Switch
by crazycutie2
Summary: When Yuffie and Aeris switch bodies, Yuffie realizes that this might be the perfect opportunity to have some fun. But soon, she finds herself devolping feelings for Cloud. What's a girl supposed to do? Clouffie
1. The potion

Disclaimer: I don't own kingdom hearts or any of the characters even though I wish I did! Hee hee hee.

A/N: Hey everyone! This is the first Kingdom hearts story that I've written, but I've been reading them forever! This story will start out pretty non-serious but later on it may get more into the romance… Anyway enjoy!

Yuffie groaned as the sun hit her face, causing her to wake up. "I'm tirrreeed." She muttered to herself as she put her head back into her pillow.

"Wake up." A hard voice commanded and Yuffie responded by holding on to her pillow even tighter. "I said wake up." Suddenly Yuffie found herself on the floor staring up into Leon's cold eyes.

"Humph! You meanie!" Yuffie yelled angrily as she stumbled to her feet. "I wanted to sleep longer!'

"It's already late enough." Leon answered coldly. "You don't need to sleep all day." With that he walked out of the room, slamming the door as he left.

Yuffie stuck her tongue out at the closed door and proceeded to get out of her pajama's and into her usual outfit. "Another day!" She sang gleefully as she bounded out of the room and crashed into Aeris. "Owww!" Yuffie cried as Aeris helped her up.

"Are you all right Yuffie?" She asked worridly and Yuffie just nodded. Living in the hotel was boring and Aeris and Cloud shared a room, as did Yuffie and Leon. Yuffie had learned that it was better for her to stay out of her room whenever Leon was in it… it was safer. "Be careful Yuffie!" Aeris called after her as she walked away. "There's been some heartless around…" She trailed off seeing that Yuffie had already left and wasn't paying attention anyway.

Yuffie smiled as she walked outside and decided to go bother, ahem, see Leon. The underground cavern was nice and cool when she arrived. And Yuffie could see Leon swinging his sword across from her. _Hee hee, he looks seeexxxxy. _She thought and then shook her head. _Where did that come from? Oh well, he is sexy so who cares?_

Creeping up, Yuffie leaped behind him and cried, "Squall!" And then she gave a squeal of terror as she ducked to avoid his gunblade that came down towards her. "You jerk! You could have hurt me, so watch where you swing that stupid thing!" _Hey that rhymed! I'm a poet and I didn't know it!_

"It's Leon. And if you didn't go around acting like a little brat then I wouldn't have to swing at you. You could have been a heartless."

"Yeah, a heartless that called your name." Yuffie answered sarcasticly.

Leon just shook his head and Yuffie sat down. "I'm bored… let's train together."

"Why, so I can beat you?" Leon answered and Yuffie growled at him.

"You just wait! I'm the great ninja Yuffie! I lose to no one." She crossed her arms across her chest and grinned.

Leon just rolled his eyes. She had never been able to beat him and probably never would… but it was better exercise then just swinging his sword. "Fine. Have it your way."

Yuffie giggled and then took her stance. "Bring it on!"

Leon just answered by bringing his sword down towards her and Yuffie jumped back avading it. "Ha, you'll have to do better then that!" She sang out as she started throwing a few ninja stars his way. A couple hit him and Yuffie noticed a couple of large gashes on his arm. _Tee hee, I've already got him!_

As she thought this to herself Leon took the opening and brought his gunblade across her arm. "Augghhhh!" Yuffie yelled as she jumped back holding her bleeding arm against herself. "I won't go down that easily!" She yelled as she quickly used a potion and continued to fight him.

Soon, Yuffie realized that she was just buying time. Leon was basically just defending easily and was getting ready to let everything loose. _Think of something Yuffie! _She thought to herself and then she did a front flip forward and, using her shruinken, cut Leon's chest with it.

"UGH!" He cried and then before she could do anything he brought his sword across her stomach in a quick movement.

"YOU MEANIE!" Yuffie shrieked as she dropped her weapons holding her stomach which now had a deep cut in it. "I DON'T HAVE ANY POTIONS LEFT! AUGHH."

Leon watched her as she went running out of the area angrily, dripping blood, and he chuckled to himself. "I win…"

_Meanie, meanie meanie meanie meanie! I'm just a gi- I mean, a young woman and he hurts me! He'll never let me win, stupid competitive guys! _Yuffie continued on her way ignoring the strange looks that she received in the way. _So what if I'm holding my stomach with both hands and I'm all dirty and dripping blood… It shouldn't matter to them! _She sent a young woman a dirty look and the girl looked away quickly.

Yuffie decided to go through the third distrint to get back to the first quickly. She cut across and was about to the door when something caught her eye. "A potion!" She cried as she ran and grabbed it. She looked around but all she saw was the strange old wizards house with her a fire thing across the door. "Maybe he lost it? Hee hee, oh well… finders keepers!" She ran off with the potion in hand, towards the hotel.

"You're a mess." Yuffie ignored Cloud as she ran inside. She ran in her room and crashed right into Aeris. "NO!" Yuffie yelled as the potion crashed to the ground.

"Yuffie!" Aeris said and was suddenly silent as she stared down at the broken bottle.

Instead of the normal blue goo that was in a potion a strange mist came out of the bottle. "What did you do Yuffie?" Aeris whispered confused.

"I… don't know… it was just a potion!" Yuffie answered and found herself suddenly getting dizzy. "Oh great…" She muttered before she fell against the wall and sank to the floor.

"You're in big trouble Yuffie!" Aeris said to her before she collapsed on the ground herself.

_What… happened? _Yuffie opened her eyes and was shocked to see that the room was dark. _It's night already? _A/N: (From now on when I say Yuffie I will mean, Yuffie in Aeris body and when it says Aeris, it will be Aeris in Yuffie's body.)

Suddenly the door to the room opened and Yuffie rubbed her eyes as Cloud came in. "Hey, are you alright? I found you on the room in Yuffie's room, so I brought you here… you were completely passed out!"

"What do you mean in Yuffie's room? Who do you think I am?" Yuffie snapped.

"Don't be funny Aeris, are you going to make dinner tonight or not?" Cloud stood in the doorway with his usual blank expression on.

"A-Aeris?" Yuffie whispered and then realized that… something was wrong with her voice. It was soft… and older sounding! She leaped up and pushed Cloud out of the way and ran towards her room. _Please don't let this be what I think it is…_

"Aughh!" Yuffie screamed when she opened the door to her room and found… HERSELF on the bed!

Aeris rubbed her eyes and sat up. What she saw horrified her. She… was standing in the doorway? "What's going on?" She cried and looked down at herself… she was wearing… a halter top and short shorts? They both looked at each other and slowly turned towards the mirror that was in the room.

"Oh… my… gosh…" Yuffie said as she saw that she was completely dressed in pink… there was no doubt in her mind, She and Aeris had obviously switched bodies.

"Yuffie, what did you do?" Aeris asked through clenched teeth.

Suddenly Yuffie started to giggle. The situation was so weird and horrible that it was funny… seeing Aeris in HER body getting mad at her? It was hilarious!

"This isn't funny Yuffie!' Aeris yelled as she put her hands on her hips.

"Y-Yes it is!" Yuffie said, gasping for breath. "I'm seeing myself! This is priceless!"

"Look Yuffie!" Aeris snarled as she grabbed Yuffie by the arm and turned her towards herself. "This is serious. We're going to have to figure out how this happened and how to fix it."

"Well duh! The stupid potion caused it." Yuffie answered. "Isn't it obvious?"

"Where did you find it Yuffie?" Aeris asked slowly as if Yuffie was a little kid.

"In front of the old wizards house I think…" Yuffie answered thinking back.

"You mean… MERLINS? What is wrong with you? He's a wizard, you don't just take things from him! You're so dumb sometimes Yuffie!" Aeris began pacing the room. "We'll have to go see him in the morning since it's to late now…"

"It wasn't actually in his house… just near it. But we can't tell anyone!" Yuffie suddenly exclaimed.

"Why? Couldn't we just have Merlin tell Leon and Cloud that it was the potion? Why wouldn't they believe him."

_This could be perfect…Aeris could finally see how I'm treated and I could be treated like the Queen of the house! Hee hee, it's perfect. Yuffie, you're a genius! And, maybe she could get Squall to like me since he likes Aeris! _"They would think that we were insane… it would be too complicated. I think we should just pretend to be each other."

"I have to pretend… to be you?" Aeris asked as she looked down at herself.

"Yep! And I get to be you!" Yuffie thrusted her arm into the air with a smirk. "But you have to call me Aeris and I have to call you Yuffie…"

Aeris seemed to be in thought for a moment and then she nodded. "You're right. We shouldn't tell the guys what happened…"

Yuffie giggled. "That's right."

Cloud opened the door and looked in. "Is everything all right Aeris?" Yuffie was silent until Aeris nudged her and she quickly giggled nerviously. "Oh… everything's just fine Cloudy!"

"Cloudy?" Cloud asked confused and Yuffie felt her face turning red.

"I meant Cloud of course!"

"You've been having a bad effect on her Yuffie." Cloud informed Aeris as he shook his head. "All I need is for Aeris to go around calling my Cloudy…"

"I'm sure that she won't!" Aeris hissed as she glared at Yuffie evilly. Yuffie just grinned.

"What's for dinner A- I mean Yuffie?"

"I don't know, you're the one that cooks around here Aeris." Aeris answered with a smug smile as Yuffie's grin disappeared.

"Hee hee… that's right isn't it? I… know how to cook."

Cloud just looked at the two of them in confusion as Leon entered the room. "Why is everyone in here?" He snapped. "I just had to get my arm and chest banaged because of her!" He pointed at Aeris who was confused.

"Yeah, well it's not like you didn't get m, I mean, Yuffie either! You hurt her!" Yuffie smirked at Leon's surprised face.

"You weren't there." Leon answered and Yuffie just shook her head.

"A- I mean, Yuffie told me what happened." Yuffie answered.

"Why am I not surprised?" Leon muttered as he sent a glare in Aeris direction. (Aeris in Yuffie's body)

Aeris didn't know what to say… what the heck was going on? "I apologize Leon…" She finally said softly.

"No you don't!" Yuffie squealed quickly. "You don't apologize! It was a fair fight! He's just being a sore loser! Stupid sore loser!"

Leon and Cloud sent each other glances. The strange behavior of the two was confusing them so they finally just shook their heads. "Aeris, aren't you going to go cook us dinner?" Leon asked and Yuffie froze and then nodded. "Y-Yep… I'm going to go… cook dinner!" She walked away wondering how the heck she was going to get out of this and groaned inwardly as Cloud followed her. "Cloud!" She cried as she turned around. "I have to go cook! I have to be alone or else I won't… won't… be able to concentrate!"

"Fine." Cloud answered and walked away.

Back in Yuffie's room, Aeris looked over at Leon. "Leon, I-"

"I don't want to talk." He answered. "I'm not in the mood to put up with you right now."

Aeris didn't know what to think… she hadn't done a thing! "I'm sorry Leon." She said softly and he just groaned, ignoring her.

Yuffie was going through the cabinets and was horrifed to find that she had no idea what to do. "I can't cook…" She muttered and then suddenly her face lit up. "Of course I can cook! I'm the great ninja Yuffie and I can do anything!" With that, Yuffie began grabbing random items and lining them out on the counter…

A/N: The first chapter is done! Please, oh please review and make my day ;)


	2. Yuffie's goop

Disclaimer: I don't know kingdom hearts or any of the characters!

A/N: There isn't quite as much humor in this chapter since it was hard to write, but I assure you that the next ones will be better! I would also like to thank my reviewers!

_BonBon: Thanks, since I'm slightly writing this off of the top of my head I can't wait to see what happens either!_

_Skippinsunday: Awww, thank you!_

_Shantheirishgirl: Well, here it is!_

_Cruz Nightshade: Don't worry I am!_

_MystiKoorime: Well, It's not a very pretty sight, that's for sure!_

_Wolf Fangs: Yeah, it was cool that they put Merlin in even though he didn't have a very big role! And yep, It's a Clouffie for sure!_

_Unifilar: Thank you, I'll try to put some jokes in!_

"What did you make Aeris?" Aeris asked as they sat down at the table.

"Isn't it great?" Yuffie answered with a grin. "It's my famous… uh… my famous goop!"

Leon raised his eyebrows at Aeris and then took a bite. A second later he spit it out. "W-what the heck?" He muttered as he stared down at the unregonizable thing.

Aeris took a quite bite and then quickly downed her entire glass of water. "I have an idea!" Aeris said as she stopped Cloud from eating it. "Aeris, this is great but how about we go out for dinner tonight?"

Yuffie hesitated and then nodded. "Let's go get dressed up!" She squealed happily.

"D-dressed up?" Aeris asked shakily as she grabbed the plates in front of the guys and quickly threw the food away. "What do you mean? We can just go to the nearby diner… There's no reason to get dressed up."

Yuffie turned around to Cloud and Leon who were staring at the two of them extremely confused. "Why don't you guys go on ahead? We'll meet you there in a few minutes ok?" She let out a giggle.

Leon jumped up and grabbed Cloud's arm yanking him with him, obviously glad to get out of there and from the strange females.

Yuffie let go of Aeris and ran up to her room and yanked open Aeris' closet. "AUGHHHHH!"

"Yuffie! What's wrong?" Aeris cried as she went running into the room.

"My eyes! My eyes!" Yuffie was screaming as she kept her hands over her face. "They're…. They're…. Scarred for life!"

Aeris gave a sigh and turned to see what had scarred poor Yuffie's mind. Her closet was open revealing all different dresses that were all… pink. "What in the world is wrong with you?" Aeris hissed as she grabbed Yuffie's hand. "You aren't acting like me at all. From now on I'm going to cook and we'll pretend that it was you! And you will wear my normal clothes."

"Nope." Yuffie stood up and folded her arms across her chest and she made a face at the dresses.

"What?" Aeris answered as she narrowed her eyes.

"Let's face it… We have to go see Merlin but who knows when we'll switch back. I'm not going to be wearing pink that long."

Aeris threw her hands up into the air and sighed. "Fine. But you aren't wearing your normal outfit… we'll…compromise."

Yuffie nodded. "And you aren't making me wear pink!"

A few minutes later Yuffie was running out of the hotel with Aeris hot on her heels. "Compromise… yeah right!" Yuffie smirked as she looked behind her and saw Aeris falling behind. "No one can keep up with the Great Ninja Yuffie!" She proclaimed and then sighed. "Aeris is out of shape though… it's harder to run as her!"

Aeris had now realized that she was faster then normal and she used that to her advantage as she found herself gaining on Yuffie. She ignored the looks that she was getting as she passed by some people but was horrified when she realized that she wasn't going to catch up. "That little brat!" She hissed through her teeth.

Yuffie entered the café and took a couple of gasps to catch her breath. Then she strolled over to where Cloud and Leon were sitting. "Hello." She said as she slipped in the seat next to Cloud.

Cloud turned to casually look at her and as he did his eyes widened. Leon glanced up and then did a double take. "Aeris?" He began and then shook his head. "I don't understand women…" He muttered.

Aeris came in and then groaned. "Oh darn it, I couldn't catch her." She muttered as she walked over to them and plastered a fake smile on her face.

"There you are Yuffie." Yuffie said with a smirk on her face. "You're always late! You need to be more on time!" She stuck her tongue out at Aeris who just smiled back through her teeth.

Cloud looked between the two of them. Yuffie just smiled at him. Yuffie was wearing a red halter top with short white shorts. Aeris was wearing a pink skirt and a white top. "Are you feeling ok?" He asked Yuffie who smiled.

"Of course!" She answered. And looked over at Aeris who was seething at her. "But I think that Yuffie's lost it." She whispered as she gestured over to where Aeris was glaring.

Cloud just glanced over and nodded. Yuffie noticed that he kept staring at her clothes. _If Aeris has got it, she should faunt it! Hee hee hee…_

"Help! Let go of me!" Yuffie squealed an hour later as Aeris dragged her towards the third distrinct.

"No. We are going to see Merlin and get changed back before I lose my mind." Aeris answered keeping her deathlike grip on Yuffie arm.

Yuffie sighed and decided to quit fighting as she followed Aeris. "And don't think that I'm not going to talk with you about the way that you dressed." Aeris informed Yuffie who sighed.

As they arrived in front of the house Aeris looked up at the large fire sign and tried the door. "It… won't… open!" Aeris muttered as she pushed it as hard as she could. "Hello? Is anyone there?" Aeris called as she knocked at the door. "Grrr…." She muttered when she didn't get an answer.

"Hm… I remember that Sora got into this house… he told me that he had to use something…"

"What do I do?" Aeris began to urgently think.

"Freefall…uh…fire?"

"FIRE!" Aeris yelled and they heard a sound as the door opened. "I did it!" Aeris squealed and Yuffie just rolled her eyes. "Yeah right."

As they jumped over to Merlin's house they slowly creeped into the dark building. "Is anyone in here?" Aeris whispered when suddenly someone grabbed her shoulder! "AUGHHHH!"

"It's just me you scaredy cat!" Yuffie giggled. "It looks like no one's here… oh well I guess that we'll just have to go back."

"Au, Contraire." A voice from behind them said. "I am just as much here as you two are."

"Merlin!" Yuffie said in surprise as the wizard came up from behind them.

"Hello little miss… you see, I've been searching for something that I lost a while back but I haven't been able to find it… it's a very important item… where could I have misplaced it?"

"An… item?" Aeris said with a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"Was it a potion?" Yuffie asked and Merlin's eyes lit up.

"Oh yes it was! Have you found it?"

"Hee hee hee…" Yuffie giggled nerviously. "Well uh… I found it and I thought that it was just a regular potion… So I took it back to the hotel and I crashed into Aeris and it broke and-"

"But aren't you Aeris?" Merlin asked quietly.

"Oh… well you see, I wasn't but-"

"Oh dear…" Merlin shook his head. "You two are no longer yourselves am I right?"

"Not really." Aeris said quietly. "We switched bodies and we want you to switch us back."

"I'm afraid that it's not that simple…" Merlin answered. "I was planning to test the potion out first… it does seem that it was affective. But unforuantely I haven't developed a cure yet because I didn't think that It was important."

"You… didn't think that it was important?" Aeris squeaked as Yuffie grinned happily.

Merlin looked over and saw Yuffie and turned back to Aeris. "I will try to come up with a cure as soon as possible." He gave a quick wink to Yuffie, making sure that Aeris would see him and then said, "It may take a while though I'm afraid… After all, I wasn't planning on using it."

Yuffie and Aeris thanked the wizard and Yuffie gave him a quick grin as they left.

"This can't be happening!" Aeris groaned as they walked back towards the hotel.

"Look, I think that we'll just have to get along Aeris… I'm sure that it won't be that bad!" Yuffie gave her a cheerful grin.

"Not that bad? You're making me act like an idiot and… and you've made me look like a slut!"

"A slut? This is how I normally dress, are you saying that I'm a slut?" Yuffie felt hurt coming over her and Aeris could tell.

"Yuffie…"

Yuffie just shook her head and took off running towards the hotel. She ran towards Aeris' room, opened the door and ran in… And was shocked to see Cloud standing there without a shirt on. For a moment Yuffie just stood there. _Wow, if he looks that good why does he always hide under his dark clothes and a cape?_

"Aeris." He simply said and Yuffie just shrugged to herself and shut the door. "Yuffie is so annoying." She said simply and Cloud just nodded.

_So everyone does think that I'm annoying… why am I not surprised?_

"Are you all right Aeris?" There was actually a small amount of emotion in Cloud's voice as he walked over to where Yuffie had sat down on the bed. He sat down next to her and waited for her to talk.

"Things are just weird." Yuffie answered and was horrified to find a tear roll down her cheek. _Why are you crying? Who flippin' cares what they think? I'm Aeris right now, not Yuffie…maybe I should act like Aeris… Why do they like her when she's a little priss but not me?_

The anger that Yuffie was feeling surprised her and she barely noticed that Cloud had taken her hand. "Aeris?" He whispered confused by her strange behavior.

"I need to rest Cloud." Yuffie finally said as she pulled her hand away for some reason feeling her face turning red.

"All right…" Cloud stood up and Yuffie turned away from him to face the wall. _I'm not her Cloud… Don't be fooled. Can't you even tell? If you care about her you should know how she acts…_


	3. Found out

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom hearts or any of the characters!

A/N: Sorry about long wait before the next chapter… I've been pretty busy filming a movie with some friends but I'm finally getting this chapter up! Also, I've had some writer's block lately so this chapter fills kind of like a filler, I'll try to make the next one better (yes I know, promises promises!) But be kind and please review guys ;)

"Aeris, aren't you hungry?" Cloud's voice awoke Yuffie and she groaned before stuffing her face into her pillow.

"Mphm…" She muttered as Cloud reached over and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you feeling alright Aeris? You've been out for hours so,why don't you come get something to eat."

"Bleah." Yuffie answered not bothering to move.

Cloud gave a sigh before stepping back. "I don't know what's wrong with you but I suggest that you get up now." His usual monotone seemed to hold a hint of annoyance which caused Yuffie to give a small smile into the pillow.

"Ough, boffhy afin't wve?" Yuffie answered. _Otherwise known as, bossy aren't we. _Yuffie smirked to herself. She enjoyed annoying him.

Suddenly an arm went around Yuffie waist and she squealed as Cloud turned her around and she found herself staring up into his bright blue eyes. "I thought that I told you to get up."

Yuffie let out a slight giggle. No one had ever treated her in such a way before. She liked it. "Maybe I don't want to." She answered.

Cloud looked surprised and his hold on her loosened.

"What's wrong?" Yuffie asked with a hint of worry in her voice.

"You've never acted like this towards me before." Cloud said softly. "You usually just pull away, something's different about you."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Yuffie answered as she looked towards the floor. "But why should I pull away, are you secretly evil?'

"Yes, very." Cloud answered and then went to kiss her neck.

Yuffie was torn between pulling away, or allowing Cloud to continuewhen the door opened and Aeris peeked her head in. "Aeris why are you-" Her voice trailed off when she saw them and she didn't seem to know what to think.

Cloud didn't seem to care as he stared at her. "What is it Yuffie?" He asked sounding bored.

"I... I wanted to ask Aeris something." Aeris answered and stared at Yuffie with anger beginning to come unto her face.

"Maybe Aeris is busy." Yuffie answered enjoying the horrified look that was coming unto Aeris' face. She sighed and pulled away from Cloud and raised her arms and yawned as she walked out. "Ahh, I didn't realize what time is was."

"What do you think you're doing?" Aeris hissed as she grabbed Yuffie's arm and pulled her towards her.

_Poor Aeris... it must be that time of the month_! Yuffie thought with a smirk. _And I don't even have to go through it! She gets to go through it as me! Mwah ha ha ha ha_...

"You're not even listening to me are you?" Aeris asked with a fake smile. "You listen, I don't want you doing anything with Cloud while you're in my body!"

"But Aeris,you don't want him to suspect something do you?" Yuffie answered with a fake sweetness in her voice which caused Aeris to turn red.

"We're not even a couple, I don't know why he did that! And futhermore, I wouldn't let him get that close to me anyway."

"What are you an old lady?" Yuffie snapped back. "A guy likes you and you respond by being cold?

"It's not like you're the guy expert!" Aeris answered. "Who do you think you are?"

"I may not know what I am but I know what you are. You're jealous." Yuffie said to Aeris as she saw her face. "You're afraid that Cloud is going to figure out what happened and when he realizes thatyou're just aboring old ladyhe'll want to be with me!" She folded her arms and smiled.

Aeris just chuckled. "Oh yes, when we switch back I'm sure that he's going to run into your arms. You're nothing but a child to him Yuffie... you're a child to all of us." Aeris bit her lip as the words came out. Yes, she was mad at Yuffie but still, she usually kept her angry words to herself.

Yuffie felt anger but she pushed it back and just shrugged. "Oh I'm sorry, I wish that I could be boring like you."

"Look, how would you like it if I went after Leon?" Aeris asked with a smirk.

Yuffie froze and then smiled. "Now that I think about it you guys would make a good couple... boring and boringer!"

"I know that you've had a childish crush on him Yuffie, you don't need to pretend that you don't care.  
Aeris tossed her hair and then walked off leaving Yuffie with a strange look on her face.

"Look, why are you wasting time arguing with Yuffie?" Cloud asked from behind Yuffie. "She's just been acting weird lately."

"Like I am?" Yuffie answered.

"What do you mean?" Cloud asked. "Yeah, kind of like you."

"Yeah... well, forget it it's really nothing." Yuffie answered softly. With that she shook her head and when running out of one of the doors.

As Yuffie exited the building she ran down towards the underground waterway where Leon usually was. "Since I'm Aeris he probably won't tell me to get lost." She muttered to herself as she entered the darkness, glad that she wasn't wearing a pink dress. Yuffie smiled as she saw Leon in his usual place swinging his gunblade at nothing. She smirked and then crept along the walls hoping to scare him, but Aeris' body wasn't nearly as stealthy as her so Leon heard her and turned around.

"Aeris, what are you doing?" He asked quietly.

Yuffie hesitated. For some reason, sneaking up on him didn't seem like something that Aeris would do. "I was just coming to see how you were doing and... did you eat yet?"

Leon nodded and Yuffie smiled nerviously. She never normally got nervous around Leon but for some reason she did at the moment. "Good... yep... it's nice." She sighed not knowing what to say.

"Why are you here?" Leon asked. "Don't you have anything better to do?"

"No." Yuffie sat down on a rock and watched Leon swing his sword for a minute. Not long ago she had thought that he was extremely sexy. Now she wasn't so sure. Slowly she was realizing that hoping that he would fall in love with her was a silly and non-realistic dream.

"You must think I'm so stupid." Leon said quietly as he turned around to face her. "It just so happens that I'm not oblivious to what's around me like the spiky haired blonde-boy seems to be." With that he smirked at her. "It's nice to talk to you though... Yuffie."

Yuffie's eyes widened. "H-h-how do y-"

"I overheard you and Aeris talking earlier today. Why are you keeping this a secret?"

"Because we thought that you guys would think that we were insane." Yuffie answered as she bent her head. "And I'm tired. I'm tired of everyone treating me the way that they do and I've wanted Aeris to experience what it's like being me. You guys treat me horribly, I'm not a child anymore." Yuffie felt her voice cracking and she bent her head. "But I didn't tell Aeris that, if I did she probably wouldn't have agreed to not tell anyone."

"Is there another reason?" Leon asked with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"What other reason would there be?" Yuffie snapped back as she felt her face turning red.

"Oh... just you wanting to spend time with a certain person." Now there was a hint of a smile on Leon's face.

Yuffie stared at him for a moment. "Look, don't tell Aeris or Cloud that you know what happened. Aeris has been a complete you-know-what to me... she doesn't need to get off so easy. So, why don't you do what you do best! Keep your mouth shut." Yuffie crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows at him waiting for what he had to say.

He didn't answer right away. Then he slowly nodded and sat down next to her on the rock that she had been sitting on. "You changed the subject. But fine."

Yuffie smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist for a quick hug. "Thanks Squall." She whispered.

"It's Leon." He answered but there wasn't the usual anger in his voice when he corrected her.

"Don't forget, you get to spend more time with Aeris this way." Yuffie smirked.

Leon's face turned slightly red and he looked down. "Can you do a favor for me?" He asked Yuffie so softly that she could barely hear him.

"Sure, what is it?" Yuffie asked.

"Aeris likes Cloud... it's how it's always been and I've never taken risks." Leon looked up at Yuffie and then took her hand in his. "So, don't tell Aeris ok? You're not her, but this is the only chance that I may ever have to do this."

Yuffie looked down at his hand confused and then he leaned over and gently kissed her. Yuffie didn't know how to respond for a moment. No one had ever kissed her so it was just her luck that she would get it in someone else's body. Finally she kissed him back but as they both heard a gasp they pulled apart.

Aeris was standing at the end of the tunnel with a completely confused expression as she looked at them. After a moment of extreme uncomfortable silence she turned around and stomped out. Yuffie turned to Leon and said softly, "Look I don't know how this is going to work out, but I'll forget that anything happened!" With that she lept up and ran after Aeris.


	4. You're my light

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom hearts or any of the characters. So bleh.

A/N: Well I took a break from writing fanfiction since I finished my FFX story but I have returned! Hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter as Yuffie begins to get confused about Cloud, it's more serious then the previous chapters as well! Don't forget to review!

Aeris' eyes were burning with fury when she turned to face Yuffie. "I try to remain calm inmany situations. But why are you doing this to me? Don't you care about my feelings?" Yuffie stared at Aeris whose eyes were filling up with tears. "Cloud's going to think that I'm cheating on him."

"Since you two aren't officially together why should it matter? And Squall won't say anything I'm sure so don't worry about it. Aren't you lucky? You have two guys in love with you... I have no idea why though." Jealously came into Yuffie as she stared at Aeris.

Yuffie thenburst into a run ignoring Aeris calling her name. She burst into the hotel and ran into Aeris' room and threw herself dramatically on the bed. Instead of bursting into tears she stared at the wall as thoughts went through her head. _Yep, So Aeris gets two great and hot guys while I get nothing. They might even fight over her or something stupid! Wonderful..._

She had been so engrossed in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed the hand lightly stroking her face. When she noticed she could tell that Cloud was sitting next to her. "You have been acting so strange lately, won't you tell me what's wrong Aeris?"

"Have you ever felt like you'll never find anyone for you?" Yuffie whispered.

"Yes." Cloud answered.

"You have Aeris!" Yuffie said and when she saw his eyes widen she buried her face in the pillow and whined, "Now I'm talking in first person, or second person or whatever it is. I've lost my mind!"

"I thought that you said that you weren't ready for a relationship." Cloud said softly.

_Aeris you are an idiot. _Yuffie thought to herself. "I don't remember saying that." She whispered.

Cloud took her shoulders and turned Yuffie to face him. "I do." Yuffie felt her face turning red as he gently kissed her forehead. "Apparently you've changed you're mind."

_Don't you DARE get another crush Yuffie! He thinks you're AERIS! AERIS!_ Yuffie smiled up at Cloud as he slowly leaned down, his lips only an inch away from hers. She felt dazed by his blue eyes. He seemed to shy to kiss her yet so he lightly pressed his lips against her cheek and had just lightly touched his lips with hers when suddenly there was a banging on the door. "Y- Aeris, Aeris are you in there?"

Yuffie pulled away from Cloud sadly. _Two kisses in Aeris' body. She has it going on for her._ "Who is it?" Yuffie called.

"It's Yuffie." Aeris called obviously annoyed.

Cloud rolled his eyes. "Yuffie, would you leave us alone?"

Yuffie giggled next to him, it was hilarious seeing herself annoying people when it wasn't even her! There was a strange sound and then the door opened. Apparently Aeris had learned how to pick locks. "Oh yeah, I showed her." Yuffie thought out loud.

"You need to get ready for the dance tonight." Aeris said quickly ignoring the looks that Cloud was giving her.

Yuffie pulled away from Cloud's arms as he smiled slightly. "See ya." Yuffie whispered before turning around and following Aeris out of a room in a daze.

"What were you two doing?" Aeris hissed angrily. She didn't know what to do, she felt like her world was crumbling beneath her feet.

"Playing checkers." Yuffie answered softly as she walked into the room that Aeris now shared with Squall.

"Cloud doesn't play games." Aeris answered.

"Well he should start." Yuffie turned and smiled. "Shouldn't I be getting ready for the dance? Oh I forgot... I CAN'T DANCE!"

"Well you'll just have to learn." Aeris answered. "Cloud thinks that you know how to dance because we've danced before!"

"Why don't I show her?" The voice at the door caused them to turn around to see Squall leaning in the doorway with a smile smirk on his face.

Yuffie made a face but Aeris slowly nodded while giving Yuffie a strange look. "Well, it would be better for her to learn it with a guy anyways ... sogo ahead."

"Well Aeris, I thought that I'd seen you dance before." Squall said with a quick wink as he put his hands on her waist.

"Hmph, well you must've been seeing things!" Yuffie shot back. Squall rolled his eyes as he twirled her around, Yuffie falling over her own feet. "Go slower!" She hissed.

"Alright, you just follow what I do. One, Two, One, Two..." Yuffie managed to keep up with him, part of it being the fact that, being a ninja she was fast on her feet. "You're doing good." Squall muttered.

"You just want a chance to hold Aeris... isn't it a shame that I'm not her." Yuffie whispered as she stuck out her tongue at him.

Squall just rolled his eyes. "Well it's not like I would hold YOU in your body... unless it was temporary insanity of course.

Yuffie pulled herself out of his arms. "I get how to do it now." She said glaring at him. "You can go now, there's nothing stopping you."

"Alright. Whatever." Squall threw his hands up and left the room. For a moment there was an awkward silence.

"I got a letter from Sora today." Aeris whispered a small smile coming to her face. "He managed to defeat all of the Organization members apparentlyand Ansem is dead as well. He's bringing Kairi here to visit us."

"That's awesome that the world's didn't get closed off from each other!" Yuffie said. "I wonder if he and Kairi confessed their feelings for each other. It's about time... they were seperated for a year and absense makes the heart grow fonder."

Aeris just smiled without answering. It was silent for a moment before Yuffie said softly, "This is the first time that we've talked without arguing in awhile."

"Don't get used to it." Aeris said with a smile and they both laughed. _If she finds out that Cloud kissed me I shall be dead... She can't find out! Even though it's not my fault... I was just an innocent bystander!_ A small giggle randomly escaped her mouth and she quickly coughed to hide it.

"You look... I mean I look stunning." Aeris said as she finished fixing up Yuffie an hour later, after much pain and suffering.

"Whatever, it's my inner beauty that makes me look so beautiful, even in your body!" Aeris raised her eyebrows and Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Pretend that it has some truth to it, will you?" Aeris nodded and Yuffie looked at herself in the mirror. She wasn't wearing it in the usual braid that Aeris wore and instead let it flow freely around her face. The dress that she worewas a dark pink with black sleeves. "Remind me why we're going to this again, will you?"

"It's a celebration for the heartless being gone for a year. Everyone is thrilled that it's peaceful again."

"If that's not the dumbest thing that I've heard then I don't know what is." Yuffie answered.

"You hardly ever get out of the house it seems anymore sowe're all going to this STUPID DANCE!"

"You admitted that it was stupid." Yuffie said with a grin. Aeris gave her a look that silenced her as she went to get into her dress. Yuffie glanced into the mirror. "I'll never be this beautiful." She muttered sadly.

The look on Cloud's face when she walked down the stairs made a sick feeling come into her stomach. He looked lovesick to see her as he took her hand. "You look beautiful." He said, giving her the once over.

"Not bad." Squall's voice snapped Yuffie out of the lock between she and Cloud's eyes to see Aeris coming down the stairs. Aeris had put on a pink, (what a surprise) dress that fell just above her knee. her hair had been flipped up slightly and she looked nice. "Wow I, I mean you look pretty good!" Yuffie said with a grin.

Aeris smirked. "Well, I guess that Leon'll have to be my date." Leon just smirked to hear this._ He's just doing that since it's really Aeris! Ugh that jerk._ Yuffie snarled at him.

"Don't you always call him Squall?" Cloud inquired.

"Yuffie is um, she's trying to actually to call Squall by his right name! I mean she's trying to call Squall Leon. I mean Leon LEON! AGH!" Yuffie cried exasperated.

Squall seem amused as Yuffie stood there, her face turning red. "Shouldn't... shouldn't we be going?" She muttered embarrased to see that everyone was looking at her with a strange look.

Even though it was hard Yuffie survived the dancing part of the evening. With only a small number of steps on Cloud's feet she was proud of herself. A lady had to come up and say that they were just the cutest couple that caused Yuffie to frown and Cloud to give a slight smile. Aeris danced with Leon who seemed to keep her busy, Yuffie even saw her smiling a few times.

Of course, the next thing she knew she and Cloud were on the balcony together. "Isn't it a beautiful night." Cloud muttered.

"Uh huh..." Yuffie answered as she glanced at his arm that was around her shoulders. She thought about moving away slightly, but hey, at least she wasn't cold. "I love looking at the stars." She whispered. "Ever since I was little. I remember in Hollow Bastion I would sneak out just to look at the stars."

"I don't know what happened, but you've changed for the better Aeris... you seem to enjoy life more and you've allowed me to become closer to you. I think that I can say this now..." Cloud glanced at the ground and then looked back up at her. "I... I love you Aeris." Cloud took her into his arms embracing her gently. "You're my light. I've finally found it."

Yuffie felt tears whelling up in her eyes. The confession of someone's love for her, something that she had waited for her whole life... and it wasn't even to her. She glanced down wishing that she could be anywhere but there. "Cloud... there's... there's something I have to tell you." She whispered. "A while ago... Something happened..."

"I know that you feel the same way... You don't have to say anything." Cloud smiled at her. Drawing closer he gently and hesitantly kissed her.

_How am I supposed to know what being in love is like? I don't want to fall in love with you! I can't handle being hurt. I do need to say something!_

Yuffie managed to pull away and she smiled weakly. "Cloud... How about we go and get something to eat?"

Cloud smirked and agreed.


	5. Hatred in his eyes

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom hearts or Kingdom hearts II, Gimme a break!

A/N: I just completed Kingdom Hearts II, this takes place about a weekafter the game is completed.Everyone has gone to Hollow Bastion, Yuffie is still in Aeris' body and has been avoiding Cloud for the most part while rebuilding the city.Thanks to my reviewers, I do apologize for the long wait between updates!

It had been a month. Yuffie and the others had been restoring Hollow Bastion and found a house to live in. Merlin had also moved in with them and was still trying to make the potion to turn them back.It was on this peticular night that she sat outside to do some thinking."What am I going to do, it's been a couple months already!" She kept muttering to herself. "Why do you get yourself into these horrible messes Yuffie?"

"What's wrong?" Yuffie froze and then turned to see Sora standing there grinning in front of her.

"SORA!" She shrieked and then covered her mouth when she remembered that everyone else was sleeping.

Sora grinned and put his arms around her as she hugged him. Yuffie took his hand and led him away from the house so they wouldn't wake everyone up. "When did you get here?" She asked.

"Well I thought that I should let everyone know that we defeated Xemnas so Organization XIII is gone... The heartless should be pretty much gone by now!" Sora grinned happily. "So what mess are you in this timeYuffie?"

"I'm... wait a second... how do you know that I'm Yuffie?" Her eyes widened.

"Number one: because you were talking to yourself and I heard you call yourself Yuffie. Number two: You aren't acting anything like Aeris, and Number 3: Leon sent me a short letter saying what happened." Sora gave a cheesy grin.

"HE TOLD YOU? That jerk was supposed to keep it a secret... Cloud is probably the only one that doesn't know... Aeris knows but she doesn't know that Leon knows and Cloud thinks that I'm Aeris and that's why everything is a mess."

"Never a dull moment." Sora said as he shook his head. "Why can't everything be normal for at least a little while?"

Yuffie sighed and shrugged. "So, you found Riku and Kairi right?"

"Yeah, they're at Destiny islands... In a strange way things are almost the way they were before I got the keyblade."

"Are you and Kairi a couple now?" Yuffie couldn't help but ask with a evil grin.

"N-no... you know that we're just friends!" Sora answered, feeling his face turning red. "I-I'm um... I'm tired so uh..."

"You can stay at our house! Just be quiet, Leon isn't a very happy camper when he's woken up." Yuffie led Sora back to the house and gave up her bed for himwhich he happily took.

After putting some blankets down for herself, Yuffie lied down and closed her eyes. Immediately she opened them again. The floor was HARD! "Sora better appreciate me giving up my bed!" She muttered to herself as she began tossing and turning. When she had finally almost gotten asleep she felt something on her shoulder. Opening her eyes, she saw a huge bug. Holding in her scream, Yuffie silently jumped up and brushed it off, trembling. She HATED bugs.

After that terrifying incident Yuffie decided that she was not sleeping on the floor and looked around to see where she would be able to sleep. Hm... There was room on Leon's bed... but if Cloud saw her sleeping with him... Aeris hogged the whole thing... Oh, what was the use, she was going to end up with Cloud and she knew it!

Yuffie sighed and walked over to where Cloud was and looked over him silently. His face had a slight frown on it and he was completely silent._ Why must you be so cute? _She couldn't help but ask herself. Though cute wasn't the word that most people would use to describe Cloud, Yuffie couldn't help but think it. In sleep he looked adorable and harmless. "He's not quite like that usually!" She muttered but with a small smile.

She was feeling very sleepy soYuffie carefully sat laid down next to Cloud. She give a small smile as she closed her eyes andcouldn't help but think that she was enjoying this very much.Vagely she felt him put his arm around her before she fell asleep. _I could get used to this. _Was her last thought.

"OOMF!" Yuffie grumbled as she felt something hit her. "Goajd kamomka."

"Was that supposed to be english?" She heard, what sounded like Sora, say.

"Don't wake me up!" She lifted her head to say and put her pillow over her head to muffle them.

"Aeris, get up, you're starting to act like Yuffie when you try to wake her up!" That was Cloud. Apparently her muffling skills weren't the best. When he grabbed the pillow and easily pulled it away from her she sighed.

"Fine." She muttered as she lifted her head and sleepily swung her legs off the bed. The events of the night before came back into her head and when she realized that she was still on Cloud's bed she felt her face redden. Sora and Cloud were the only ones in the room luckily, but then she realized that Aeris and Leon would have had to see her before they went wherever they went. Sora's smirk was enough to make her blush anyways. _Oh, who cares what Sora thinks! I can get him back by teasing him about Kairi._

"Are you... alright?" Cloud asked her and Yuffie shook her head to get out of the daze.

"Yep, never been better!" She piped happily and just gave a smile when he raised his eyebrows at her.

"Sleep well?" Sora asked her with a smirk and when Cloud wasn't looking she stuck her tongue out at him. "Mature." Was all Sora said.

"How long are you staying?" Yuffie asked quietly with a fake smile.

"I actually just came to see if all the Heartless are gone, and make sure that everything's going alright."

"Everything's fine." Yuffie answered with a smirk. "So you don't have to hang around,I'm sure that you have a lot to do."Cloud walked out for a momentwhich left her and Sora alone.

"I wouldn't mind seeing what happens with the whole potion thing either." Soramuttered quietlyto her. Yuffie glared at him.

"Look, don't talk about it, c'mon Sora... this is serious." She answered before walking off to get dressed for the day.

Cloud came back in to get something. "Aeris is acting pretty strange, eh Cloud?" She heard Sora say.

He was so dead.

Unfortuantely, Yuffie didn't get the opportunity to hurt Sora, considering that when she came out Cloud andhim had left. "LOVELY!" She muttered. Sighing she walked over to a chair and sat down. Merlin had told her a couple of days ago that the potion was almost ready. Yuffie had done her best to avoid Cloud to prevent her feelings from advancing but... it hadn't worked so well."I"m Yuffie! I'm the little girl that nobody notices... I shouldn't feel this way." She cried to herself. Well... she was seventeen, but still... Why did it have to be Cloud of all people? Couldn't she like someone a little less... morbid?

"I have to tell him before I turn back... it'll be my last chance." She muttered. Suddenly the door swung open, "Yuffie it is ready!" Merlin gave her a bottle and then leaned over and caught his breath. "Finally I have completed the potion, you can finally switch back!"

Yuffie started at the liquid. "What do I need to do?" She whispered.

"Just drink it and then a few minutes later you'll find yourself back in your body. Unfortuately, for some reason, the drink stops working a few minutes after it's been made, so you need to drink it now." Merlin urgently nodded.

Yuffie took a deep breath and drank it before she could have any second thoughts. "I have to find Cloud and tell him..." She muttered and ran out as fast as possible.

"Oh wait Yuffie! Oh dear... I forgot to tell her that instead of going back to her body, her body will go back to her. Oh well, I'm sure that everything will work out fine."

Yuffie ran as fast as she could. "Sora, where's Cloud?" She asked when she finally found Sora.

Sora was about to tease her but saw the anxiety in her face. "He went down towards the dungeon part to-" Yuffie didn't bother to listen to the rest of what he said, she had to hurry.

"Cloud!" She yelled when she got there. There was no answer so she quickly entered and was glad that there was some light. "CLOUD!"

"What are you doing Aeris?" Cloud asked as he appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. "This isn't a place for you to be, I'll be done soon and then we can talk."

"I'm not weak." Yuffie answered and then remembered what she had come to say. She could feel tears coming to her eyes and quickly blinked them back.

"Aeris..." Cloud put her hand on her shoulder seeing the pain on her face. "What is it?"

"I'm so sorry..." Yuffie choked out, trying to keepher voice from shaking."I didn't mean for things to go this far, I thought that it would be fun, but it's horrible. It's so horrible."

"Are you sick?" Cloud asked as he put his hand to her forehead.

"I wish I could tell you how I feel... but I don't have the right." Yuffie looked up into Cloud's eyes, which, instead of the usual coldness, were filled of worry._ I love you Cloud... I wish I could tell you, but for once I'm going to do the mature thing. _"I know that you think of me as a little brat, but I'm not."

"I don't think that you're a brat." Cloud answered for her. "I've never said that."

"Trust me, you do." Yuffie stepped back from him and felt a wave of dizziness come upon her before she stumbled to her knees. Vagely she felt Cloud's arms go around her waist. Then the feeling was gone.

Cloud's arms quickly let go and she turned to see his look of surprise and horror. "See... you do think that I'm a brat." Yuffie told him and knew that she had her body back, considering her voice sounded like hers again.

"W-what's going on?" Cloud asked his voice barely above a whisper stepping away from her.

"Aeris and I switched bodies a couple months ago." Yuffie answered. "It's been me in her body this entire time. Everything that you said, it was to me... not her."

"How could you trick me like that, this is low even for you Yuffie." Cloud said his voice cold.

"At first it was just for fun, but then I felt myself-"

"I don't want to hear it, where's Aeris?"

"She's with Leon." Yuffie managed to say, though her voice felt hoarse from the tears in her eyes. "Cloud, I'm not a child anymore."

"What you did is extremely childish, you've just proved to me that you haven't grown up." Cloud answered.

He quickly brushed past her but stopped for just a moment to look at her. Then he turned and kept walking and Yuffie fell to the ground sobbing her heart out. She had seen the look in his eyes.

It was hatred.


	6. Almost a woman

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. 

Yuffie didn't know how long she cried before she managed to pick herself up. Thinking about what was going to happen between Cloud and Aeris made it even worse. She had a feeling that Aeris had fallen for Leon. Finally she got up and slowly began walking back to the house, worrying about what would await her when she got there. The tears had stopped, leaving her eyes red and sore.

"Yuffie? Is that you?" Sora gently put his hand on her shoulder as she nodded. "What happened?"

"Everything went wrong." Yuffie answered softly. "You can go home now Sora, this is what happened with the whole potion thing. Cloud hates me now.

Sora hugged her gently and Yuffie sighed and shuddered slightly. "I tried to be mature... Sora, you don't need to be involved in this."

You're my friend Yuffie." He answered with a smirk. "To be honest, It's nice to hang out with someone besides Donald and Goofy for once."

Yuffie gave a small laugh and hiccuped. "I must look wonderful now." She said softly. "So much for proving that I've grown up."

"I think that you look fine, now go and straighten things out with Cloud." Sora gave her a gentle push and she whispered thanks to him before she left.

The atmosphere in the house was tense at best. Cloud was staring at Aeris and Leon who were sitting on the couch together, though they weren't touching. For once Yuffie didn't say anything, instead she slowly walked over to the table and sat down. It was quiet for a moment, the tension just kept building up.

"Cloud…" Aeris began but Cloud interrupted her. "So... everyone knew except for me." He kept his voice steady but Yuffie could detect the anger in it.

"No, that's not true." Aeris answered though she wasn't very convincing.

"Don't blame Aeris for anything." Leon said softly.

"You certainly didn't seem to mind the situation Leon." Cloud answered. "If I didn't know better I would say that you took advantage of it." When he didn't receive an answer something seemed to click. "... you're a couple now."

"Cloud, we were going to-"

"Are you happy now?" Cloud asked as he turned around to face Yuffie. "Isn't this how you wanted things to be?"

"No, I didn't want things to turn out this way." She whispered feeling the tears welling up in her eyes but she quickly blinked them back. Cloud just looked at Aeris and Leon for a moment before shaking his head and walking out of the room after slamming the door.

"Oh I feel so guilty..." Aeris whispered. "I don't want to hurt him."

"It's a little late for that!" Yuffie answered sarcastically before walking out the door after him. "Cloud... Cloud... CLOUD!" Yuffie caught up to him, he had been moving very quickly. "Won't you listen to me for five seconds?"

"What?" He asked coldly, his voice so angry that Yuffie had to swallow. "It is my fault, but... Don't you think it was just a matter of time?" Yuffie looked concerned as Cloud just started walking again. "You and Aeris weren't ever even a couple... She never knew how you felt, the person that you told was ME remember?" Cloud still kept walking. "You're being very childish about this."

At this Cloud stopped, causing Yuffie to run into him. "You call me childish?" He asked her, his voice low. "You've taken my light from me."

"How do you know that she's your light?" Yuffie asked. "How do you know that it's not someone else?"

"Who else could it be?"

"… Me." Yuffie said feeling her face turn pink as she looked down at the ground. For a minute everything was quiet as they stood there in awkward silence Yuffie wringing her hands nervously.

"Yuffie." Cloud said as he brought his mouth down next to her ear, causing a chill to go down Yuffie's spine. "It'll never be you."

All the pain that Yuffie was feeling crashed down upon her at the cruel words. Without thinking she slapped Cloud across the face, grabbed his face, and pulled it down to her level as she kissed him. The kiss was forceful and quick before Yuffie let go and stepped away. "I just wanted to see what it would be like as myself." She said, her voice choked, before running leaving Cloud standing there in shock.

"Whoa Yuffie!" Sora grabbed her arm as she ran past him. "What's wrong?"

"Everything!" Yuffie answered. "I'm going to leave, can you take me somewhere on you're gummi ship?"

"W-where?"

"Twlight Town." Yuffie answered. "I just have to get away Sora or I'm going to explode!"

"Well... if you want to go then sure, I can take you."

"Oh thank you Sora!" Yuffie whispered as she hugged him, a few more tears spilling out in the process.

"Do you have munny?"

Yuffie's face went blank at the mention of it. "Um... I'm sure that Aeris and Leon wouldn't mind if I BORROWED some from them." She said with a small smirk coming upon her face.

When Yuffie got back to the house no one was there so she got her stuff together quickly, she didn't want anyone to know she was going. Yuffie wasn't planning on saying forever, she just wanted to prove to herself that she was grown up enough to be on her own. "I'm not a little girl anymore." She muttered.

"You're acting like one."

Yuffie didn't even turn around. "Shut up Cloud, don't you have somewhere to mope?"

"Isn't it little girls that always run away from home?" Cloud asked.

"You want me to leave!" Yuffie answered, a small glimmer of hope in her, thinking that maybe he would ask her not to leave.

"Yes." The short answer hurt and Yuffie quickly swallowed.

"Just remember, It wasn't Aeris that you confessed your undying love to. It was me. If you love someone that much you should be able to tell that it's them you know."

"What do you know about love?" Cloud snapped back, his blue eyes flashing with anger.

"I wouldn't. I'm just a kid." Yuffie answered staring at him. She wanted so badly to walk over to him but she stood her ground. "Bye." She said before turning and walking out the door. Cloud just stood there staring at the shut door. A few seconds later he sat down and put his head in his hands.

"What made you want to go to Twlight Town?" Sora asked Yuffie once they were cruising along in the Gummy Ship.

"I need to get away from Hollow Bastion or Radiant Garden or whatever we're calling it now." Yuffie answered. "Also, where else is there to go?"

Sora gave a small laugh. The rest of the ride was pretty silent. When they got there Sora turned to Yuffie. "Are you sure you want to run away?"

Instead of answering Yuffie grabbed her stuff and winked at him. With that she exited the ship. "I guess that's a yes." Sora said with a sigh but he couldn't help but laugh.

The town seemed like a very cheerful place. Yuffie thought, as she walked down the street area. "Now I just need to find a place to stay for a little while." She muttered.

"You're new here eh?" Yuffie turned around to see a group of teenagers, with one of the guys talking to her. "If you need a place to stay then there's a lady that owns a candy shop who is renting out a room a couple blocks away. I'm Hayner by the way." He held out his hand which Yuffie shook after a couple of seconds.

"I'm Olette and this is Pence." The girl standing next to him said with a smile. "Welcome to Traverse Town."

T-Thanks." Yuffie answered. _Ugh, what happened to the confident Yuffie? Just because you're in a strange place ALONE doesn't mean that you need to be frightened. Relax, Relax, Relax._ "Ok well, I guess that I'll be heading that way." As she turned something clicked in her head. "Wait... do you know Sora?"

Pence nodded with a smile. "Yeah, how do you know?"

"I vagely remember him mentioning you three. I'm his friend."

"Cool." Hayner butted in. "So why did you come here?"

"It's a long story." Yuffie answered. "Hey I'm going to go see about a room, I'll catch you three later." She walked off feeling very relieved to have met someone.

About an hour later Yuffie was lying on her bed staring up at the ceiling of her new little room. "So… this is life as a free almost adult." Yuffie's eyes roamed around the small room and the bland walls. "Thrilling."

Soon after Yuffie began walking around the town. It was quite small and… well it seemed pretty boring. "Yo, I ain't seen you around here before." A blonde haired guy that looked about a year younger then her walked up to her. "This is where MY gang hangs out."

"Oh really?" Yuffie answered calmly. "I don't see your name. All I saw was a sign saying SANDLOT."

"Heh… I'm Seifer. A little girl like you shouldn't talk to me like that."

"LITTLE GIRL? I'M PROBABLY OLDER THEN YOU!" Yuffie answered.

"I'm 16."

"I'm almost 18." Yuffie answered with a smirk. "Respect your elders little boy."

"That's it, I don't care if you're a girl, NO ONE talks to me like that!" Seifer picked up a random club thingy on the ground.

"You're going to fight me with that? Why not a REAL weapon… or are you scared?" Yuffie smiled, she loved taunting.

"So you wanna get serious?" Seifer threw down the club and pulled a gunblade that Yuffie hadn't seen out of his belt. "We'll get serious."

Yuffie thought it was strange that he had the same weapon as Leon, and that he had a scar on his face just like him as well. She didn't have time to think though since Seifer swung at her. Yuffie easily dodged it and flipped back, pulling out her Shurikens. "You asked for it little boy." She said before lunging towards him.

Seifer hammered down on her as Yuffie quickly blocked his blows with her weapons, and getting a few hits in herself. "You ain't bad." Seifer said as she got him across the arm.

Managing to grab her arms Seifer leaned over her and snarled in her face. "Isn't this romantic?"

"Never underestimate the Great Ninja Yuffie!" Yuffie said and with a quick blow to get him to release his grip on her she flipped over him and slashed him across the back.

Seifer fell to the ground in pain and Yuffie quickly gave him a potion.

"You're my kind of girl." Seifer said when he got up with a smirk. "I've never had a girl that stood up to me before, let alone beat me."

"Good luck, you're going to need it." Yuffie answered. "I'm not interested." Before Seifer could reply with a sarcastic comment she walked off, glad at least to have been able to fight.

That night Yuffie sat alone in her bedroom after putting away her new clothes that she had bought that day. (Her Advent Children outfit.) "They at least make me look a little older." She muttered to herself before lying on her bed and staring at the ceiling. She could feel some tears in her eyes, she felt so alone.

"I hate you Cloud." She muttered as she pounded her pillow. "And yet I love you as well. Yeah I admit it, I love you! I don't know why but I do. I'm not a little girl anymore and you're nothing but a spiky haired jerk for not giving me a chance."

With that Yuffie ceased the talking to herself and blew out the candle, letting herself stare into the darkness.


	7. Come back with me

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Kingdom hearts 2, yada yada yada.

Yuffie tossed and turned almost every night that week. It always felt like forever until the first rays of the sunlight peeked through her window. "Thank God!" She muttered as she quietly left the house. As Yuffie walked down the street she began to realize the truth. Life on her own was BORING! "This town is soooo dull!" She muttered.

"I can liven things up for you." Seifer said as he came from around the corner and smirked at her.

"I told you. Not interested." Yuffie answered with a quick fake smile. "Now you can leave."

"There are a ton of girls who would die to be in your position." Seifer took a step closer, his tone getting menacing.

"Well I would RATHER die." Yuffie answered with a roll of her eyes.

"What is your problem?" Seifer asked. "Would you rather be alone? You obviously have no one considering the fact you're alone in an apartment in this dinky town."

His words hit home. Yuffie had been trying to push back her feelings but it didn't help that the next day was her birthday. "Look, I'm in love with someone else ok?"

Seifer just smirked at her. "You're wasting your time. You could have me." When Yuffie didn't move he made a strange noise and walked off, obviously pissed.

Yuffie just stood there. She hadn't even been on her own for very long and she had to admit it, she was lonely. She felt so immature once again.

"Hey there Yuffie!"

Yuffie turned around to see Olette walking towards her. "You look upset about something. I saw Seifer talking to you, did he say something? He can be so mean sometimes."

Yuffie gave a small laugh. "No, he didn't say anything. It's just... I feel kind of lonely even though I've only been on my own for like a week! I wanted to prove to the others that I was grown up enough to be on my own but I'm failing."

Olette nodded, but looked a little bit confused. "How old are you?"

"I'll be 18 tomorrow." Yuffie answered and sighed at Olette's shocked face. "Yeah, I know that I look younger then I am."

"Actually... I thought that you were older." Olette answered looking at her feet.

Yuffie had a feeling that she was lying but she felt better anyways. "Heh... thanks Olette."

After that Yuffie hung out with Olette and the rest of her friends who threw her a smallparty. Feeling so much better Yuffie walked home alone that night. "I'm finally an adult." She muttered to herself. For some reason she wasn't tired, so instead of heading to her room she decided to climb up on one of the buildings and stare at the sky.

Of course she closed her eyes and felt something on her nose. She opened her eyes to see that it had started to lightly rain. She giggled and put out her hands to feel it. Suddenly she felt like someone was watching her and she turned to see Cloud. For a moment she felt frozen. "W-what are you doing here?" It was dark so she couldn't really see his face.

"Aerith was worried about you." Cloud answered her.

_Of course, as if he actually CARED about me! _Yuffie gave a fake smile before carefully standing up, making sure not to lose her balance. "Well, you can tell her that I'm just fine, now you can be on your merry way."

"It's your birthday." Cloud said. "You're an adult."

"Not in your eyes." Yuffie answered. "I'll never be in anyone else's eyes..."

Cloud didn't say anything so she just shook her head. "Do you want to stay in my room? It's late and to rainy for you to head out." Cloud didn't answer so Yuffie just carefully began making her way down. Suddenly her hand slipped and before she could scream Cloud grabbed her hand and she regained her balance. "Thanks." She muttered, embarrassed. Instead of letting her go though Cloud just held on to her hand for a moment. Yuffie felt her face turning red, as she pulled her hand away and made it the rest of the way down without any incidents.

They walked towards the house in silence, though Yuffie couldn't help but think that if they were a couple, how romantic it would be, walking together in the rain._ Ugh, I cannot start thinking like that... I'll just get my hopes built up for nothing. _Suddenly Cloud stumbled and Yuffie grabbed his arm to prevent him from falling. "You alright?"

Cloud didn't answer and in the streetlight Yuffie could see his face. His eyes looked slightly glazed over. "Are you DRUNK?" Yuffie asked shocked, She had never seen Cloud drink in her life.

"I'm fine." He hissed. Yuffie could tell that he held his alcohol very well, yet his footsteps weren't quite straight. Luckily they were almost to the house.

"If you don't mind, I would appreciate it if you didn't let anyone see you." Yuffie informed Cloud as she quietly unlocked the door and slipped into the house. Cloud didn't answer, (What else was new?) So Yuffie just led him to her room, went a got a couple blankets and came back. "Here you can..." Yuffie trailed off when she saw that he had made himself comfortable on her bed. "That's my bed!" She hissed.

Cloud pretended not to hear her, or so she thought but Yuffie realized that he had actually fallen asleep. As she looked at his face she realized that he was completely out. "Humph, he shouldn't be drinking!" With that she began trying to pull him off the bed to no avail. "I am NOT sleeping on the floor in my own house." She muttered. With that Yuffie pushed Cloud to the other side of the bed and laid down, making sure not to touch him.

A sudden knocking on the door woke Yuffie up the next morning. "Yuffie, Yuffie it's Olette!" Greeted her and before Yuffie could move Olette unlocked the door. Apparently Yuffie had forgotten to lock it thenight before."Good morn-" Olette stopped when she saw Cloud lying next to Yuffie. His arm had somehow made it's way around her waist, Yuffie noticed.

Yuffie began turning red and realized what she had to be thinking. "Oh no, it's not what you think, seriously, he's just an aquiantance and... um... wow..." She pulled herself away from him and jumped out of the bed, standing there awkwardly.

"Don't worry about it Yuffie, you are older then me." Olette gave her a small smile and left without another word.

"Oh crap..."

Cloud chose that moment to wake up and he yawned as a look of confusion came upon his face for a minute. "Where am I... Oh."

"I let you stay the night since you practically keeled over! You were drunk!"

"I was searching for you." Cloud answered, not replying to the drunk part."Sora wouldn't tell us where you went either."

"Well don't I feel special." Yuffie answered sarcastically. "You found me, now you can leave."

"Stop these foolish games Yuffie." Cloud answered, a look of anger coming across his face. "You don't belong here." He stood up and winced as he put his hand to his forehead. He had a hangover and Yuffie wasn't helping.

"I don't belong back in Hollow Bastion either!" Yuffie answered clenching her fists. "I've always felt alone, none of you have EVER treated me the way that I deserved."

"If I treated you the way that you deserved then you wouldn't be able to walk."

"And if you weren't such an asshole then I think that we would all benefit greatly." Yuffie crossed her arms and smirked at him.

"So I'm an asshole?" Cloud took a couple steps closer to her. "Well they must be your type of guy then."

"What are you insinuating?" Yuffie asked feeling butterflies in her stomach. He was SO CUTE! _C'mon Yuffie, you can't let him win this! Don't back down!_

"You know perfectly well." Cloud answered. When Yuffie didn't say anything he let out an exasperated breath. "I honestly don't care if you stay here, after all you're nothing to me." He knew that would get a rise out of her.

"Then why are you here?" Yuffie hissed. "Also, I already KNOW that I mean nothing to you!"

"Because Aerith asked me." Cloud didn't answer the other part of what she said.

"Oh yeah, you have to do exactly everything that she tells you. Well I'm sorry, but I'm not going back with you. Thanks for asking so nicely though. Now you can leave." Yuffie walked over to the door and opened it and waited for him to leave.

Instead, Cloud slowly closed the door back and stood over Yuffie. "I'm not leaving without you, why won't you come with me?"

Yuffie could feel tears in her eyes. "Can't you see you blind idiot? You're just making things harder, I want to get away from you... Why can't you just leave me alone?" The tears began running down her face.

Cloud seemed mesmorized by her tears as he lightly ran his finger across her cheek to wipe away one of the tears that had fallen. "I'm sorry to have caused you pain." He said softly.

"That's just it! You haven't done anything, It's my fault... I used Aerith so that I could get close to you. I'm the scum of the earth."

"That doesn't sound like the Yuffie I know." Cloud said. "The Yuffie I know would blame anyone else before she blamed herself."

Yuffie gave a small laugh and hiccuped. "I feel stupid."

"Taking the blame is what an adult would do." Yuffie's eyes widened at his words.

Cloud's head felt a little heavy and dull. Maybe, he told himself, that was the reason that he found himself lowering his face down towards Yuffie's and wiping a strand of hair away from her face. And maybe his hangover was the reason that he bent down further, intending to kiss her. Yuffie's eyes widened, she wasn't sure what to do.

A/N: ACKKKK yes, the cliffy of horror! I'm sorry, I had to do it. I won't be able to update for a couple weeks because I'm leaving, but please leave me lots of reviews for when I get back :) Thanks guys!


	8. Sometimes you just know

Disclaimer: I don't own kingdom hearts or kingdom hearts 2 or any of the characters and yeah.

Most normal girls would have happily let Cloud kiss them. Yuffie, obviously, wasn't normal. As Cloud's lips came towards hers she pulled away from him.

He obviously wasn't expecting the turn of events as he frowned. "I am not going to be your play toy Cloud." Yuffie hissed. "You go around saying that you don't care about me in the least and then you try to kiss me, I'm not going to put up with it anymore."

"I've only tried once." Cloud answered, still leaning over her. "I'm sorry, it was a mistake."

"Then please leave Cloud, go back to your beloved Aerith and take her away from Leon and live happily ever after while I ROT in this place."

Cloud took a step back and just looked at her. "Come back for just a week, if you aren't happy then you can return here."

_Well, I have to admit that I am bored... And I can pretend that I'm not attracted to Cloud but I AM... AUGHGHGHGHGH this is so confusing!_ "Whatever." Yuffie answered. "I'll go with you, but you'd better be a gentleman and not try anything even though I know it's hard." She went to get her few items together before he could answer.

Cloud stared at Yuffie as she got her stuff. She had ditched her old clothes and was wearing a black outfit with laced up boots. He had to admit, she did look older.

"Let's go." Yuffie said as she grabbed Cloud's arm and pulled him out the door. After telling the housekeeper that she would be gone for a little while, they left.

Yuffie walked fast, she didn't want her new friends to see that she was leaving. "Where are you going?" Yuffie stopped and glared at Seifer who was leaning ona wall, she hadn't seen him.

"I'm leaving for a little while." She answered coldly. "Not that it's any of your business."

Seifer glanced up at Cloud who was standing next to her. "Is this the guy that you're in-"

Yuffie kicked him in the leg quickly. "We're LEAVING Seifer, keep your mouth shut."

Seifer groaned as he rubbed his leg and glared up at her. "What the heck is wrong with you?"

Yuffie just shook her head and handed him an envelope. "Can you give this to Olette? I don't have time."

Seifer shook his head and sent her one of his smirks. "Fine babe, I'll be waiting for you to get back." He gave her a wink.

Cloud's face grew dark, then Yuffie grabbed his arm and pulled him along. "Let's go, I want to get this over with."

It wasn't long after that, that they boarded the Gummi Ship. Yuffie went in the back to get away from Cloud. He had to driveso he wouldn't follow her."I'm surprised that Cid let Cloud borrow his ship." She muttered as she ran his fingers over the wall. _I am such an idiot,I had a chance to let Cloud kiss me and I didn't... I wonder if he likes me now? Or maybe he just wants to take advantage of me since he knows how I feel about him... ugh guys are so confusing!_

Yuffie decided to go the front. Cloud had the ship on autopilot and was sitting in the chair with a bottle of alcohol in his hand. "You can't start drinking now Cloud." She tsked and grabbed the bottle from his hand and in one quick movement opened the window, threw the bottle into space and closed the window.

"WHAT THE HECK?" Cloud cried.

"You never drink, why did you have alcohol?" Yuffie asked him seriously.

"My feelings have been confusing me. I turned to that." Cloud answered. "Last night was the only night I've had that much."

"Well stop it, it's not worth it." Yuffie said, her tone a little bitter. "It'll just make things worse."

Cloud seemed to want to ask her something, but turned away from her instead. It was quiet, Yuffie was staring at his back. Her desire to be close to him was overwhelming. "Cloud." She choked out take a deep breath and then letting it over shakily.

He turned to face her. It was almost like he could see how she was feeling, considering the look on his face, he looked... almost torn about something.

Yuffie felt like she wasn't controlling her body anymore as she slowly stood up. "I... " She wanted to tell him that she loved him. She wanted for him to tell her that he felt the same way. But what she wanted and what she should do were two completely different things. "Promise me you won't drink anymore." Was what she said instead.

Cloud looked at her face and slowly nodded. Yuffie gave him a small smile and reached over to turn on some music. "I love this song!" She exclaimed as she got up and danced to the music. Cloud watched her, an amused smirk on his face.Yuffie's movements weren't too silly and she looked over at Cloud.He looked away, his face feeling hot for some reason.

Yuffie noticed his face and inwardly giggled. A bit of her silly self had just come out again. "Is my dancing that bad?" She asked him with a chuckle. _Or is it just to sexy for you to handle? _She giggled to herself.

Cloud shook his head and Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Destination reached." The Gummi Ship suddenly slowed down, startling Yuffie. "Ack!" She cried as she lost her footing and fell backwards, into Cloud's arms. _Convinent. _Yuffie looked up at his blue eyes and smiled. "Thanks once again."

Aerith greeted Yuffie with a hug when she got off. "It's so good to see you again Yuffie!"

"You make it sound like I've been gone for years." Yuffie answered as she rolled her eyes. "It's good to see you... yada yada yada."Aerith just laughed.

Leon appeared and nodded at Yuffie in greeting and then turned to Cloud. "There's someone here to see you." Yuffie glanced up at Cloud to see his face darken. "She's at the house, let's go."

"Cloud!" Yuffie watched as the dark haired woman threw her arms around his neck. "It's so good to see you again." As she pulled back Yuffie saw her face and recognized who it was. It was Tifa, an old friend, she used to live in Hollow Bastion with them. _Well there goes any chance I had with Cloud. _Yuffie thought to herself. Tifa had always been infactuated with Cloud and she was beautiful and older then her.

"What are you doing here?" Cloud asked her, straight to the point.

"I thought I'd visit my old friends!" Tifa answered cheerfully. "Including you of course"

"Wonderful." Yuffie said. Tifa looked at her, looking like she was trying to figure out who she was. "Yuffie." She said so that Tifa would remember her.

"Yuffie... my gosh, you look so much older, I didn't even recognize you!"

Ok, so that earned some points with Yuffie. "Heh heh... thanks, it's only been years.

Tifa smiled and thenwent over and started talking to Aerith. Yuffie turned and looked at Cloud who was staring at the two of them. "I'll be going inside." Yuffie muttered, doubting that he would even notice that she was gone.

Yuffie sat in the back room and looked out the window. _Maybe Cloud'll be trying to choose between the two of them... Aerith seems happy with Leon though so he might just go with Tifa. Either way he has it made, I doubt that I'll be in the picture at all. _"No use kidding myself." She said witha smirk, trying to not care.

"Kidding yourself about what?" Cloud sat down next to her.

"That anyone could care about me as more then a friend." Yuffie answered straight to the point looking in his eyes to see what his reaction would be.

"I see." He answered.

The two of them lapsed into silence. "So... why aren't you visting Tifa?"

"She... seems to think of me as more then a friend. I don't want to lead her on considering the fact that I don't feel the same way." Cloud said the words matter a fact.

"Why... do you care about someone else?" Yuffie asked.

Cloud just looked at her. "How do you know? How do you know something isn't just a crush, infactuation... when can you tell it's something different?"

"I can't really give you an explanation." Yuffie answered thoughtfully. "I think that at one point you just... know."

"I don't know, and I like to be in control." Cloud answered.

Yuffie put her hands on his shoulders and put her face near his. "Sometimes you have to let yourself take a chance, throw control to the wind."

"Yuffie I..." Aerith trailed off when she came into the room. A small smile came upon her face. "I came to ask if you would like to go out with Tifa and I but you seem to be a little busy."

"No, it's fine I can come!" Yuffie answered pulling away from Cloud without looking at him. "Where are we going?"

"To get our nails done!" Aerith answered happily as she grabbed Yuffie's arm.

Cloud smirked as Yuffie turned and make a face as if begging for him to save her. "Have fun." He said as Aerith pulled Yuffie out of the door. He was going to be in for it when she got back, for now he was going to think about what she had said.

A/N: This is the first chance that I've had and I managed to finish the chapter, YES! I don't know if I like it, it feels a bit like filler to me but oh well. Thanks to my reviewers! You guys inspire me to keep writing, leave me some more :) Another chapter coming soon...


	9. Mixed messages

Disclaimer: I don't own kingdom hearts for like the NINTH time. Holy pineapples.

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews guys! It's helping me to get the chapters up faster... I'm not sure how much longer I should write this story, I'm thinking either closing it off after a couple more chapters or going a little while in Yuffie and Cloud's relationship. What do you guys think? Well, R & R!

"In case you don't know, ninja's don't get their nails done." Yuffie informed Aerith as the three of the girls sat in the chairs.

"Now they do." Aerith answered.

"I remember why I left now, because you're always making me do girlie stuff when, NEWSFLASH, I'm not girlie."

"You're a girl Yuffie, there's going to be some feminism in you somewhere." Tifa butted in.

"Exactly, now stop complaining, sit back, and relax." Aerith said with a sweet smile.

"Fine, as long as they paint them clear, I am not having little flowers on my nails." Yuffie muttered and then turned to face Tifa. "So what brings you here Tifa?" Yuffie asked.

"I was here during the heartless battle... remember?"

Yuffie thought back. "Oh yeah, I barely saw you, sorry."

"I just wanted to talk to Cloud again and I figured I could visit." Tifa closed her eyes.

"We're always happy to have you Tifa." Aerith said.

"You would be happy to host one of the Organization XIII members if they were still alive." Yuffie answered with a giggle.

"Yuffie!"

"Just kidding, just kidding."

"I can't believe that you asked them to paint flowers on my fingers... I CAN'T GET THEM OFF!" Yuffie yelled on the way home, the two girls laughing.

"C'mon Yuffie, they're cute." Tifa said trying to stop her laughter.

"They would be cute if I wore PINK like a certain someone and pranced around in a dress. I'm a NINJA!"

"It'll stay on for at least two weeks... sorry Yuffie." Aerith answered.

_Maybe she isn't as nice as I give her credit for... she's a schemer. _Yuffie thought to herself.

"Cloud's going to love your fingernails." Aerith whispered so Tifa wouldn't overhear her.

"Very funny, I will find a way to get them off... mark my words." Yuffie scowled at Aerith who just shook her head.

The moment they got back Yuffie went in search of Cloud who was conviently no where to be found. "Humph... He knows that it's his fault I was dragged off and he's hiding from me."

"Looking for me?" Cloud chose that moment to show up.

"It's your fault!" Yuffie informed him as she crossed her arms. "I want an excuse now."

Cloud glanced down at her nails and tried not to smile. "I figured that you wanted to be included with the girls."

"You are such a liar."

"You're one to talk." Cloud answered.

Yuffie groaned, threw up her hands and walked out leaving Cloud with a slightsmile.

That night, all of them sat around a table talking. Yuffie felt like she was finally included with everyone else and it was a great feeling. Aerith got out a bottle of wine and some glasses and brought it to the table. Yuffie was sure that she wouldn't get any but without saying a word Aerith poured her a glass.

_Ok... I am officially grown up, HA! This is so awesome, I'm not being treated like a little kid anymore... words cannot describe how happy I am._

Yuffie noticed that Tifa was trying to get a little closer to Cloud who was sitting in between her and Tifa. Cloud looked uncomfortable and scooted slightly closer to Yuffie. _This is working out to my advantage. _Yuffie thought glancing at Tifa who just sighed and took another sip of her wine. Yuffie couldn't help feeling sorry for her, she really did seem tolike Cloud. _I can certainly relate to that feeling. _Cloud took her hand without saying a word and Yuffie glanced at him and smiled.

A few glasses later they began telling stories. "Remember that Yuffie used to think she was a boy?" Aerith said with a loud giggle. Yuffie had stopped drinking after her first glass, she could tell she couldn't hold her alcohol good and she wasn't going to risk accidently telling Cloud something embarrassing. "Until I told her that men have-"

"AS LOVELY as this topic is let's change it." Yuffie interrupted.

"Why's that?" Tifa asked with a giggle her words slurred. "Are you embarrassed? Hee hee."

Ok, Yuffie HATED seeing people drunk... A memory flashed through her mind and she immediately tried to push it back. Yeah, she wanted to be older and fit in with the adults. _Since when though, is maturity getting drunk and making a complete fool out of yourself?_

"I think that I'll be going to bed." Yuffie said with a smile as she stood up. "I'll see you guys in the morning." She had a feeling they wouldn't even notice her absense.

"I'll come with you." Cloud said as he stood up, he seemed a bit annoyed by the antics around the table as well. Or maybe he just wanted to get away from Tifa, Yuffie couldn't tell. He seemed to be thinking something so he continued, "Not with you to bed, with you away from... here..."

"I know what you meant." Yuffie answered with a smile. As he followed her back she said, "I guess that getting drunk doesn't seem very grown-up to me, it's just an escape... the coward's way out."

"That's not always the case."

"Well for him it was."

"Who is him?"

Yuffie paused for a moment. "No one, forget about it."

Cloud and her just stood in the dark hallway together listening to the others laughing. Yuffie felt goosebumps go up her arms as Cloud wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his lips against her neck.

"Are you drunk?" Yuffie hissed. She hadn't seen him drink much but maybe he couldn't hold his alcohol.

"If I was I wouldn't be responsible for my actions." He answered before cupping her face in his hands. "And I want to take all responsibility for this."

"Wha-" Yuffie was cut off as he leaned down and kissed her. For a moment she was stunned, then she reacted by throwing her arms around his neck, causing them to fall into the wall... They didn't even pause. Yuffie was enjoying it... but... something was nagging at the back of her mind so she pulled away.

"What?" Cloudasked, slightly out of breath."Is something wrong?"

"Yeah, I think something is. I'm getting really mixed signals here. You tell me that you'll never like me and all that crap and then this kind of makes me think that you want to be with me. Could you clear everything up for me?"

"Look, I'm really tired-"

"So you aren't taking responsibility for your actions? I want an answer now."

"Yuffie, and here I thought you were matured. Of course I like you, I wouldn't just kiss anyone. My feelings... have changed."

"I care about you so much." Yuffie whispered. "I'm just afraid... you hurt me so much before even though I tried to ignore it, I don't want to get hurt by you again."

"I can't make any promises." Cloud answered.

"You're right, you can't. But I'm tired so just in case you are drunk we'll talk in the morning." Yuffie weakly smiled at her lame excuse to leave. "Goodnight Cloud." She wanted so badly to kiss him again that she could hardly bear it but she managed to turn and walk towards her room.

"I can't believe that he likes me." Yuffie whispered to herself in the dark. A feeling of happiness overwhelmed her and she giggled quietly. The smile disappeared from her face soon after. "The question is... Am I willing to trust him after everything?" She didn't have an answer for herself so she closed her eyes to try to sleep.

"Isn't it a beautiful day?" Yuffie exclaimed as she pranced into the kitchen the next morning.

"Uh huh." Aerith groaned as she stirred whatever she was cooking and held her head at the same time.

"That's what you get for drinking too much." Yuffie informed her as she pranced over to the table and sat down.

"Yuffie, your voice isn't the best thing to hear in the morning." Leon muttered as he walked by her to get his cup of morning coffee.

"Thanks Leon, I love you to." Yuffie answered her voice still sounding happy.

Cloud and Tifa burst into the room with her trailing behind him. "Are you sure you're alright?" She asked sounding worried. Yuffie wondered why she looked fine and without a hangover.

"It was just a scratch." Cloud answered. At the other's questioning looks he answered, "A stray heartless, I wasn't expecting it."

"They appear so rarely that's no surprise, we don't even carry out weapons with us anymore." Aerith answered as she dropped what she was doing and walked over to look at it. "Hm...I can cure it but there will be a scar and it'll be tender for a couple days... cure." She whispered as a green light glowed over his skin and the wound disappeared.

"Thanks." He told her and the two of them shared a look. It was friendly, like things were settled between them.

Yuffie felt a little anxious that Cloud hadn't even looked at her yet. Her insecure self was coming out as she watched Tifa little touch Cloud's arm looking worried. "Hands off." She growled under her breath.

"I think that something is happening." Cloud informed everyone. "A group of nobodies was spotted not to far from here, we may need to get ready to fight again."

"I'm always ready to fight." Yuffie said and he glanced at her for a moment and then turned to Leon. "I know that the heartless should be completely gone but apparently we were wrong once again."

"We'll be on the lookout." Leon said and stood up and grabbedhis head with a wince. "Hopefully they can wait a little while though."

Tifa hadn't removed her hand from Cloud's arm and Yuffie felt jealously running through her. She wasn't going to let Cloud see it though, oh no, she wasn't going to be like all the annoying girls she'd seen, who freaked out with their boyfriend dared to even LOOK at another girl. She was going to play it cool.

With that thought in mind Yuffie remembered that she could do the 'Fire' Magic spell slightly. She let a small flame appear on her finger and before anyone noticed, flicked it towards Tifa.

"Ow!" Tifa said as she let go of Cloud and rubbed her arm. "What was that?"

_Mission Accomplished!_

Keeping a straight face Yuffie said sweetly, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, it just felt like something burnt me for a second." Tifa said with a frown.

Cloud looked straight at Yuffie who just looked back at him, trying to keep her best innocent face. "I'm going to go talk to some of the townspeople and see if they know anything." He said.

Yuffie thought that she had gotten away with it, he apparently didn't know it was her.

It was like he could read her thoughts as Cloud glanced back at her and gave her a quick wink.

She had to be seeing things. The mighty Cloud wouldn't wink at anyone. Or... maybe she was really special.


	10. A second chance

Disclaimer: I don't own kindom hearts II or any of the characters, I don't even completely own this computer, I own nothing! Gack.

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! This is one of the last chapters, there are going to be one or two after this one. Sorry about the long update, I haven't been able to get on the computer, Ugh. Leave me a review! ;)

The heartless came swiftly and in great numbers the next day. None of the group had any idea why it was happening, except for that if they didn't get rid of them the town would be overrun. "TAKE THAT!" Yuffie yelled as she threw her shrunken through a heartless. "You guys won't win this time."

She caught her breath for a moment. They had been fighting for quite a while. The number of the heartless did seem to be decreasing, but not as much as she would have hoped. There seemed to be another reason for their arrival… if they could get rid of the source of the problem…

"YUFFIE!" The yell caught her attention and she looked up to see Tifa urgently gesturing towards the cliff. "Go after Cloud!" Tifa had her hands full at the moment so Yuffie nodded and ran towards the cliff. She saw Leon and Aerith at the bottom of the chasm and the sight of her friends fighting brought encouragement to her. Her breath caught in her throat as she turned the corner to see Cloud lying on the ground near the edge.

"Cloud!" She cried as she ran to him and kneeled next to him. "Cloud, c'mon open your eyes, we've gotta fight the heartless!"

"I must thank you." The cold voice from behind her made Yuffie's blood run cold and she knew who it was even before she turned around.

"Sephiroth." Yuffie slowly stood up and cracked her knuckles. "I thought that we had gotten rid of you."

"As long as there is darkness in Cloud's heart I will never be gone. Thanks to his confused feelings about you it was extremely easy for me to conquer him."

"I won't let you. There will always be someone in Cloud's life to give him light! First it was Aerith, then Tifa… now it'll be me."

"You think you can defeat me? Pathetic." Sephiroth said with a chuckle. "I will crush you."

"You'll have to catch me first." Yuffie answered as she prepared her fighting stance. She may have looked confident on the outside but she was horrified. _Whenever you want to wake up Cloud, it would be fine with me. _

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes at her and drew out his sword. "I will not hesitate to kill you."

"I wouldn't expect you to." Yuffie answered with a smirk.

Sephiroth ran towards her and swung, which Yuffie dodged by a quick back hangspring. She carefully watched his fighting tactics while dodging all of his attacks. He was faster then she had anticipated. Her constant dodging seemed to be aggravating him so he suddenly yelled "Descend heartless angel!" The next thing Yuffie knew she was lying on the ground panting. That hurt.

"Why do you even waste your time?" Sephiroth said to her. "You'd never stand a chance against me."

Yuffie blinked and a tear ran down her face. "I do it for him." She answered. Weakly she stood up. "You can kill me but I don't care because I did it for Cloud… because I love him."

Suddenly Sephiroth winced as if she had struck him. "You're in the way."

"Good." In one quick movement Yuffie flipped forward and cut him. Immediately he retaliated by whacking her with his sword. Yuffie didn't even try to get up as she pulled herself next to Cloud with her remaining strength. "Please, I need you Cloud. Please." She whispered.

Everything faded away and she could hear Sephiroth raising his sword. Yuffie didn't feel anything or hear anything after that.

"Is she alright?"

"I tended to it, it's been a few hours now."

"What if she doesn't make it?"

Yuffie groaned and opened her eyes to see Aerith and Tifa standing over her. "Oh my Yuffie, you're alright!" Aerith exclaimed as she hugged Yuffie.

"Yeah, I'm fine… but where's Cloud?"

Aerith and Tifa exchanged looks and then turned back to Yuffie with sorrow etched on their faces. "Yuffie… he didn't make it."

Yuffie immediately felt like she had been punched in the stomach. "H-how?"

"Sephorith killed him. The moment that he killed Cloud he disappeared as well. We tried everything…" Aerith couldn't keep the tears back anymore.

Yuffie kept herself from crying by pushing all her emotions back. At the moment she didn't feel anything. "Where is his grave?"

"Leon is going to bury him today, we wanted you to be there." Aerith tried to smile at Yuffie but failed.

"I guess I should go get dressed for the occasion then right?" Yuffie said, not a hint of emotion in her voice before walking off.

Aerith and Tifa shared a look. They both knew that Yuffie was in shock.

Yuffie had never felt the way that she did as she stared at the tombstone later that day. If only there was some way that she could change things… or do something so that she could be with him.

"Yuffie, it's time to go." Leon said as he gently put a hand on her shoulder. For a moment the two of them were silent before he continued. "I know that I'm not one to talk, but concealing your emotions as you are isn't good."

"Let's go." Yuffie answered, leading the way after one last quick glance at where Cloud now lay.

That night she couldn't even think about sleeping. Instead she stared at the fire long after everyone had left. Then, as if in a trance she got up and walked out the door without even thinking.

The moment she approached his grave she felt a clenching pain in her stomach. "This is your fault you know." She whispered. "I tried to help you and you wouldn't let me, you've never let me." Suddenly the dam burst and the emotions began to pour out. "I LOVE YOU!" She screamed as she pounded her fist on the ground. "I wanted to tell you but I scared, I was scared…"

Yuffie closed her eyes and sat up, shaking slightly. "I know it's selfish, I know it's not right, but I ask for one more chance." Looking up at the sky she yelled. "I just want to tell him that I love him, please!"

She didn't get an answer. "I need him, without him I won't be able to go on, what's the use? Please, let me be with him however way I have to go about it." When Yuffie still received no answer she slowly took out a knife that she had. _What do I have to lose? _She muttered before beginning the cut on her wrist. With that she began to cut it deeper.

At that moment she woke up.

The room was dark and Yuffie sat up, tears dried to her face and a horrible headache. "Cloud…" She whispered.

"Something's happening." She heard someone whisper from across the room.

"Tifa?" She asked before getting out of the bed and walking over to her. "Where's Cloud?"

Tifa stepped aside and Yuffie got her answer. Cloud was lying unconscious on the bed, strangely it looked like all his wounds were healed though.

"How's he doing?" Yuffie asked her.

"After you were knocked out Cloud managed to continue fighting Sephiroth. He defeated him but was horribly wounded in the process. Aerith was up healing him for hours and went to bed a little while ago, Leon forced her."

"You can go to bed Tifa, I'll keep an eye on him." Tifa nodded, obviously exhausted. _I wonder how long I've been knocked out? _Yuffie thought as she watched Tifa walk off.

After Tifa left she turned back to Cloud and took his hand in hers and squeezed it gently. "I don't think it was just a dream, I think it was a wake-up call." She whispered. "Please wake up, I need to tell you Cloud."

He didn't move and Yuffie carefully crawled in next to him and closed her eyes, a few tears falling out of her eyes in the process.

The sun woke her up as it shined directly in her eyes. "Ugh." She muttered and realized that Cloud's arm was around her waist. Slowly she turned to face him and realized that he was looking at her. "CLOUD!" She cried as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Shhhh, everyone is trying to sleep." Cloud answered as he held her gently. "I think that they were up late."

"I thought that you were going to die." Yuffie whispered as she blinked back the tears in her eyes.

Instead of answering her Cloud pulled away and held out his hand to her. "Let's take a walk."

Yuffie didn't bother questioning him as to if he had the strength, she knew what he would say. With a small smile she took his hand and they walked out the door.

For a few minutes they didn't say anything, just enjoying being with each other. "I had a dream." Yuffie quietly began. "You died and I never got to tell you something, it felt so real."

"What was it?" Cloud asked glancing at her.

Yuffie closed her eyes and stopped walking. _Ok you are still the Great Ninja Yuffie! You can tell Cloud those three simple words. _For a minute she considered not telling him. Then something caught her eye. Her wrist had a deep cut in it exactly where she had cut it in her dream. At that moment she made her decision.

"I love you." Yuffie whispered, looking up at him.

"What?" Cloud asked narrowing his eyes.

"UGH! THIS IS SO HARD TO SAY!" Yuffie exclaimed. She sighed and quickly gave him a peck on his cheek. "I love you." She said with a sweet smile. "This time you aren't getting rid of me either.

Cloud looked like he didn't know what to say for a minute then in one quick movement he took Yuffie into his arms and pressed his lips against hers in a sweet kiss. Yuffie felt herself smiling and to her surprise Cloud seemed to be doing the same. He pulled away leaving Yuffie feeling a bit disappointed. She looked up into his blue eyes which for once seemed to be shining with happiness.

"The others will be wondering where we are." He said after a awkward silence.

"Let them wonder." Yuffie answered with a giggle as she kissed him again.


	11. Not meant to be

Disclaimer: For the last time I don't own Kingdom hearts or Kingdom hearts 2, Mwah ha ha.

A/N: This was going to be the last chapter but I decided to make this the second to last. There will be one more after this and I hope to have it up faster, sorry for the wait guys. Don't forget to review!

Yuffie closed her eyes and leaned back, the sun's rays on her face felt wonderful. It had been a couple weeks since Cloud had survived and things were great. For some reason they didn't announced that they were a couple yet. In fact, they hadn't even said so to themselves. Some things just didn't need to be said they were so obvious.

"Want some company?" A female voice inquired jolting Yuffie out of her fog.

Yuffie opened her eyes to see Tifa and she nodded. Tifa sat down and for a few minutes they sat in silence. "I'm leaving tomorrow for good." Tifa finally said.

"Why?" Yuffie asked, sitting up and facing her.

"There isn't anything for me here, I have to move on from Cloud… he doesn't like me the same way I like him." The pain in Tifa's eyes was evident and Yuffie felt a bit of guilt.

"Did he ever?" She asked hoping that Tifa would say no. Tifa didn't comply.

"Oh yes, when we were younger. But I can't live in the past right?" Tifa managed a weak smile and stood up. "I hope that you two are happy together… you're a great girl."

"Wha…" Yuffie said as Tifa walked away. "Are we that obvious?" She muttered to herself. A few minutes later she headed back to the house.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Aerith exclaimed the moment Yuffie walked through the door.

"Yes Aerith, I've only seen it a hundred times already." Yuffie sighed not even glancing at the ring that Aerith kept showing her.

"I didn't know that Leon had such good taste!" She said with a smile.

"He doesn't." Yuffie answered. "I do."

"What?" Aerith looked up, completely taken aback.

"Yuffie doesn't know what she's talking about." Cloud said coming out of nowhere as usual. "Do you?" He asked her with a look that insinuated that if she didn't agree with him she would be hurt later.

Yuffie gave him a dark look, faked a smile and turned to face Aerith. "I was just kidding, as if I could ever pick out something so beautiful!"

Aerith smiled and went back to her admiring and Yuffie pushed Cloud out of the room. "I should get credit for once!" She exclaimed.

"I just saved your skin, Leon would kill you if Aerith knew that he didn't get the ring."

"Then I'll never help him again!" Yuffie answered with a smirk. "For being rude you don't get any kiss today."

"Oh really?" Cloud answered as he raised his eyebrow. "What makes you think I care?"

"Oh trust me." Yuffie answered and with a sweet smile she put her arms around Cloud's neck and closed the distance between them so that she was only an inch away from kissing him. "You care." With that she let go and gave him a smirk before prancing out the door.

Cloud just stood there, disappointed. Apparently the Ninja did have a bit of a hold on him… not good.

Why didn't she let him kiss her much? Yuffie pondered the thought as she walked through Radiant Garden. A part of her still kept a bit of a wall up, though no one would suspect the cheerful girl of doing so. "What's wrong with me?" Yuffie sighed. _It's because of him._

"Ha ha, not a good memory." Yuffie said shaking her head trying to push the thoughts back.

_Remember? The way it felt when his hands…_

"STOP!" Yuffie put her hands to her head. "I refuse to dwell on the past." A couple moments passed and she stood up, looking unphased… she didn't want to be alone with her thoughts but they kept creeping up on her.

A few hours later Yuffie returned to the house."So, when's the wedding?" She asked, her voice extremely cheerful. "Weren't you two going to decide today?"

"It's going to be in two months." Aerith answered. "We think it would be beautiful to have at the Destiny Islands, it would be easy for everyone to be there."

"Yeah… sometimes this place still depresses me." Yuffie whispered. Noticing the look that Aerith was giving her she immediately perked up. "Not that I'm ever depressed…"

"Yuffie, you don't have to always put on a happy front you know." Aerith told her gently. "We all go through our painful times."

"That's not true… I've had it easy compared to most people." Yuffie answered.

"That is a lie." Aerith answered, looking unusually angry. "You've been through more in your 18 years then most people should go through in a lifetime."

Yuffie just looked away. "This should be a happy time for you Aerith, don't be concerned about me." She stood up and walked into her room, falling unto her bed and stared at the ceiling.

Cloud came into her room and she sat up and sweetly smiled at him. "Hello Cloud, how was your day darling?" She crossed her legs and put her head in her hands to make herself look innocent.

Instead of answering Cloud sat down next to her and leaned in to kiss her.

Yuffie just turned away, trying not to smile. "Sorry sweetie, you must learn self-control now… no kiss today… maybe if you're better tomorrow!"

"Don't patronize me." Cloud answered, his voice cold.

"Do you even know what that means? Or are you just saying it because it sounds good?"

"I mean it."

"I don't think this has anything to do with a kiss… I think that you're just mad because you want to have control over me, not the other way around." Yuffie noticed that Cloud looked surprised and realized it was true. "I refuse to let you have control over me." She whispered to him. "You'll just have to accept it."

"You think you should have control over me?" Cloud asked her seriously.

"I'm not trying to have control over you Cloud, I can't help it if you want to kiss me!" Yuffie sighed and turned away from him.

"Something's troubling you, what is it?" Cloud had changed the subject and she felt him lightly put his hand on her shoulder.

"Nothing!" She answered turning to face him with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "You're just being a bonehead."

"Tell me." Cloud whispered putting his mouth next to her ear. The next thing she knew his mouth was against hers. For some reason the kiss didn't seem sweet to her at all, it was forceful and she had to push him away as the horrible feeling came over her. "STOP IT!" She cried. "It feels like him."

"Who is him?"

"Don't make me remember." Yuffie answered covering her eyes.

"You're hiding from your past, you know just as well as I do that it will catch up with you eventually… trust me Yuffie, please."

Yuffie tried to stop it but the tears started coming. "When I was young, my father had a drinking problem." She whispered. "Every night he would abuse me. The night before Hollow Bastion was destroyed he raped me. I will never forget how it felt, it was so horrible." She tried to stop her voice from shaking. "Then, I got to see him die, I have never felt so relieved and so happy before. But I always wondered, was it partly the alcohol or was it just that he truly hated me?" Yuffie had managed to get her emotions under control and just stared at the floor. "I wish I knew."

"Yuffie, I didn't know."

"Only Aerith does." Yuffie answered softly. "Others have been through much more then me though so I don't want anyone to feel sorry for me."

Cloud gently touched her face and she winced and turned away. "The way you kissed me felt forceful, the way he treated me. I never want to feel that way again."

"I'm sorry." Cloud answered. "I just… I'm scared by how much I care about you and I wanted to have complete control over you so I wouldn't get hurt. I'm sorry."

"I forgive you." Yuffie answered and gave him a kiss on the cheek with a small smile. "I'm glad that I told you this."

Cloud just gently put his arms around her and kissed her head, then let go with a whisper of "Good night."

Yuffie wanted him to leave and yet she didn't want to be alone. The memories that she had pushed back seemed to be lingering in her mind. "Are you going to leave me?" She asked him in a whisper so soft he wasn't even sure if he had heard it.

Cloud just turned and looked at her. "I'm giving you space." He answered softly before hesitating and leaving the room.

"Thanks." Yuffie muttered sarcastically. "I've had a lot of space, don't worry." With a sigh she closed her eyes to try to go to sleep. _I wonder how many hard times Cloud and I will go through in this relationship… or if it's even meant to be._


	12. A perfect ending maybe

Disclaimer: Finally, for the last time I do not own Kingdom Hearts 2 or any of the characters.

A/N: Well this is finally it. You guys should feel special, I'm going on vacation and wasn't going to update until I got back! Thanks to all my reviewers, if it weren't for you guys I never would have finished the story! Leave me one last review ;)

Yuffie got up the next morning after a long night of tossing and turning. _Why didn't Cloud stay and comfort me? _Was the main thought on her mind at the moment as she slowly got out a piece of bread and began eating it plain, chewing slowly, not even tasting the food.

Leon came into the room and did a double take. "Since when do you only eat that and not fifty pancakes?"

"Ha ha very funny… for your information I'm not really hungry this morning."

Leon dropped the glass he had in his hand but managed to catch it before it hit the ground. "You? Not hungry? I never thought I would live to see the day when you said those words."

Yuffie didn't answer so with a sigh Leon sat down next to her. "I can see something is wrong." He said quietly actually seeming to be taking her seriously for once. "I may not be able to give advice but I can listen."

"Very out of character for you Leon." Yuffie answered with a small smile. "I'm just confused about Cloud and I."

"You two do seem to have an interesting relationship, though you seem to suit each other well."

"Yes but… WAIT? How do you know, we haven't even told anyone!"

"It's more obvious then a monsoon."

Yuffie sighed. "So much for not letting the world know. Anyways, I just feel like I can't trust Cloud… I can't tell you why."

Leon leaned back in his chair and thoughtfully put her hands behind his head. "Then I can't give you much advice, but I've known Cloud for years… he is trustworthy."

"When it comes to some things but what about the matters of the heart?"

Leon didn't seem to be able to give her an answer so Yuffie just gave him a weak smile. "Don't worry about it Leon, I think that this is something I have to figure out on my own."

Aerith came in to talk to Leon about the wedding so Yuffie quietly slipped away a few minutes later. Just talking to someone had made her feel a little better even though she still wasn't sure quite what to do.

"Hello."

Yuffie gave Cloud a small smile as he came up to her. "Can we talk?" He asked her solemnly, seeming a little reluctant.

For some reason a nervous feeling came into her stomach but Yuffie just nodded. It was quiet as they walked along until Cloud broke the silence. "I can't make you trust me."

"You shouldn't have to." Yuffie answered.

Cloud looked a little surprised at her answer as he shook his head. "You have changed so much…"

"Isn't that good? I mean everyone used to tell me how annoying I was after all…"

"I never thought you were annoying, you were the one that kept everyone's spirits high in all of the hard times. Your spunk is what makes you unique."

"Then you want me to go back to the way I was?"

"NO." Cloud answered and then quickly took back his words when he saw the look on her face. "I mean yes… I mean… I want some of the spunk to come back but for the maturity to remain."

Yuffie accepted his answer and sighed. "I guess that a relationship isn't as easy as some people make it look. huh?"

"It's worth it in the end." Cloud answered before gently embracing her and pulling her close to him. "I promise you that I won't hurt you."

Yuffie closed her eyes. "You can't make that promise, unless you mean physically." She said with a small smirk.

"I will not allow myself to hurt you." Cloud answered. "If I ever do then you have my permission to ninja kick me."

Yuffie couldn't help but laugh as she put her arms around his neck and looked into his eyes. "You won't even know what hit you."

"I'm not worried." Cloud answered before closing the distance between them.

_A few months later_

"I now pronounce you husband and wife… you may kiss the bride." Yuffie kissed Cloud and then pulled away happily. "They make such a cute couple!" She exclaimed as Leon and Aerith kissed, married, for the first time.

"Why did you just kiss me then?" Cloud asked her as he raised his eyebrow.

"Because you look just too adorable in your suit! Heh heh seeing you in a suit… sorry, this is a day that I will have to remember though."

"Maybe you'll see me in one another time." He said and smirked at the blush that spread across her face.

"What are you saying?" She asked him but was interrupted when Sora ran up to them.

"It was a great idea to have the wedding here! It's awesome seeing everyone again." He said happily. "You and Cloud are a couple now right?"

"Yep… sorry Sora, I know that you were secretly in love with me."

Sora looked shocked for a moment and she laughed. "I was just kidding with you… I know that Kairi is the one for you."

As if on cue Kairi picked that moment to come up to them. "Hi guys, what's going on?"

"We were just discussing how great weddings at the beach are." Yuffie told her coolly without even glancing at the beet red Sora who looked relieved that she hadn't said anything. "Also, the fact that Sora can't get his mind off you."

"YUFFIE!" Sora and Cloud said at the same time glaring at her.

"Whatttttttt? It's so obvious that they like each other, it's time that they got together… seriously." With that Yuffie took Cloud's hand and dragged him off, leaving Sora and Kairi standing there awkwardly, glancing at each other shyly. "Go ahead and confess!" She called.

"I can't believe that you said that." Cloud muttered to her. "You shouldn't meddle like that."

"Trust me, I'm doing the two of them a favor." Yuffie whispered back. "They obviously weren't going to make a move on their own."

Cloud shook his head but had to smile slightly at her antics. "You are way too much, you know that right?"

"But you love me anyway!" Yuffie joked.

Instead of answering her Cloud took her hand and they walked away from the crowd along the beach. Yuffie glanced up at him, wondering what the heck could be going on in that strange mind of his.

After a long silence he said softly, "I do."

"You do what?"

"Love you." Cloud answered, looking ahead thoughtfully.

Yuffie didn't quite know what to say so she stopped walking, making Cloud almost trip in the process. "That's not how you tell a girl you love her for the first time!" Was the first thing that came out of her mouth.

"Hmm…"

"Hmm? Every girl dreams of having someone confess their love to them for the first time… I'm sorry but that was pathetic."

"Some people aren't good at expressing their feelings out loud." Cloud informed her. "I will try though. I think about you all the time, you are beautiful, talented and smart and I would give my life for you in a second… I love you Yuffie."

Yuffie felt her chin quivering and she fought to keep back the tears. "Ok that works." She said with a small smile before throwing her arms around Cloud's neck and burying her face in his shirt. Cloud gently stroked her head as she felt the dampness in his shirt that told him that Yuffie was crying. "Are you alright?"

Yuffie pulled away and looked up into his eyes. "I love you too you big bonehead." She said with a choked laugh.

Cloud smirked and then lowered his head and kissed her, tasting the salty tears on her lips. When they pulled away Yuffie smiled up at him. "We should get back to the party."

"Oh they can wait." Cloud answered before kissing her again and Yuffie didn't bother to argue.

_One month later_

"Whatcha working on Merlin?" Yuffie asked the wizard cheerfully as she walked around his workshop admiring many of the random items.

"A new instrument that could change everything as we know it!" The wizard answered excitedly.

"That's what you always say." Yuffie answered as she put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow at him.

"This time it really is." He answered. "This device will give people the ability to see the future, which could easily prevent many horrible events from happening.

"That's no fun, who would want to do that? Half the fun of living is not knowing your future." Yuffie asked him. Without waiting for an answer she skipped over. "How do you work it?"

Merlin shook his head at her. "You just put on this helmet and then look into the glass panel in front of you where you will see something that will happen in your future." Merlin helped Yuffie put it on and then pressed something on the wall.

"AUGHHHHH" Yuffie screamed a few seconds later and ripped the helmet off her head. "HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN?"

"What did you see?" Merlin asked her concerned.

"I'm… I'm getting married."

"Aren't you and Cloud a happy couple? What's wrong with that?"

"It wasn't Cloud… IT WAS RIKU! I don't want to marry Riku! OH MY GOSH… this can't be happening!"

Before Merlin could stop her Yuffie ran out of the house terrified. "I forgot to tell her that I haven't worked out all the bugs yet…" He muttered before shaking his head. "It seems I've done it again."


End file.
